2019/11/30 by Shang Gao, Fan Xiao, Kazuya Kamazawa +7 · 2 citations
Chemistry · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Atomic physics #Chemistry #Condensed matter physics #Delafossite #Electric field #Electron #Ground state #Inelastic neutron scattering #Ion #Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials #Neutron scattering #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Quantum spin liquid #Scattering #Spin polarization #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.102.024424
published as Phys. Rev. B 102, 024424 (2020) · 7 pages, 5 figures, with updated XRD refinement and CEF analysis
openalex created_date 2019/12/05 · arxiv created 2020/06/02 · openalex publication_date 2020/07/16 · arxiv updated 2020/07/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The delafossite family of compounds with a triangular lattice of rare earth ions has been recently proposed as a candidate host for quantum spin liquid (QSL) states. To realize QSLs, the crystal electric field (CEF) ground state of the rare earth ions should be composed of a doublet that allows sizable quantum tunneling, but until now the knowledge on CEF states in the delafossite compounds is still limited. Here we employ inelastic neutron scattering (INS) to study the CEF transitions in a powder sample of the delafossite NaErS2, where the large total angular momentum J=15/2 of the Er3+ ions and the resulting plethora of CEF transitions enable an accurate fit of the CEF parameters. Our study reveals nearly isotropic spins with large Jz=\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi1/2 components for the Er3+ CEF ground states, which might facilitate the development of a QSL state. The scaling of the obtained CEF Hamiltonian to different rare earth ions suggests that sizable Jz=\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi1/2 components are generally present in the CEF ground states, supporting the ternary sulfide delafossites as potential QSL hosts.