Stabilizing the Kitaev spin liquid state in Ag₃LiIr₂O₆ with high magnetic fields

A spin-liquid system doesn’t form static long-range order even at the lowest temperature despite the existence of strong magnetic interactions. In some materials, this happens because the nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions in a frustrated geometry can’t all be satisfied.  Among the spin liquid systems, “Kitaev” spin liquids are of particular interest because an analytically solvable model is available and they are predicted to form a gapless quantum spin liquid with Majorana fermions. Recently, Ag₃LiIr₂O₆ was proposed to be a potential “Kitaev” spin liquid [1].  Evidences include the lack of long-range order, a two-step release of magnetic entropy and a scaling behavior in the AC-susceptibility as a function of temperature over magnetic field. However, crystals with higher quality were later found to order antiferromagnetically at 8 K [2]. Nevertheless, a spin liquid state may still be present in a portion of the phase diagram. In this talk, I will discuss how we seek a field-stabilized spin liquid state in high magnetic fields in Ag₃LiIr₂O₆, similar to the case of α-RuCl₃ [3].

[1] Bahrami et al. PRL 123, 237203 (2019)

[2] Bahrami et al. PRB 103, 094427 (2021)

[3] Vaberhee et al, npj Quantum Materials 3, 1 (2018)