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A rare-earth Kitaev material candidate YbCl<sub>3</sub>

ORAL

Abstract


Most of the searches for Kitaev materials deal with 4d/5d magnets with spin-orbit-coupled J = ½ local moments such as iridates and α-RuCl3. Here we propose a new Kitaev material candidate YbCl3. We perform thermodynamic, ac susceptibility and angle-dependent torque measurements on a YbCl3 single crystal. We find that the Yb3+ ion exhibits a Kramers doublet ground state that gives rise to an effective spin Jeff = ½ local moment with likely strong anisotropic exchange interactions. The compound exhibits short-range magnetic ordering at around 1.20 K followed by long-range ordering at 0.60 K. These orderings can be suppressed by in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic fields, resulting in a quantum critical point at around 6 and 10 T, respectively. Furthermore, the non-monotonic decrease of Neel temperature under out-of-plane magnetic fields and the 99.8% of ground state entropy release across the short-range ordering, strongly suggest that YbCl3 is a close realization of a Kitaev system.

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Presenters

  • Eve Emmanouilidou

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Department of Physics and Astronomy and California Nano Systems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA, University of California Los Angeles

Authors

  • Eve Emmanouilidou

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Department of Physics and Astronomy and California Nano Systems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA, University of California Los Angeles

  • Jie Xing

    Department of Physics and Astronomy and California Nano Systems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

  • Huibo Cao

    Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA, Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA, Oak Ridge Natl Lab

  • Chaowei Hu

    Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, Physics and Astronomy, UCLA, Physics and Astronomy, Univerisity of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Department of Physics and Astronomy and California Nano Systems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA, University of California Los Angeles

  • Jinyu Liu

    Department of Physics and Astronomy and California Nano Systems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA, Tulane Univ, Tulane University

  • David E Graf

    Florida State University, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Department of Physics, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Florida, USA, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, National High Magnetic Field Lab, Florida State University, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Department of Physics, Florida State University, Florida State Univ, Natl High Magnetic Field Lab, National High Magnetic Field Lab, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 E. Paul Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory-Florida State University, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, FL, NHMFL, Florida State University, NHMFL

  • Arthur Ramirez

    University of California, Santa Cruz, Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA

  • Gang Chen

    State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China, Department of Physics and Center of Theoretical and Computational Physics, The University of Hong Kong

  • Ni Ni

    Univ of California Los Angeles, Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, Physics and Astronomy, UCLA, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Department of Physics and Astronomy and California Nano Systems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA, University of California Los Angeles, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles