Gapless Spin Excitations in the Field-Induced Quantum Spin Liquid Phase of alpha-RuCl3

Abstract

$α$-RuCl$_3$ is a leading candidate material for theobservation of physics related to the Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL). By combined susceptibility, specific-heat, and nuclear-magnetic-resonance measurements, we demonstrate that $α$-RuCl$_3$ undergoes a quantum phase transition to a QSL in a magnetic field of 7.5 T applied in the $ab$ plane. We show further that this high-field QSL phase has gapless spin excitations over a field range up to 16 T. This highly unconventional result, unknown in either Heisenberg or Kitaev magnets, offers insight essential to establishing the physics of $α$-RuCl$_3$.

6 pages, 4 figures. 1 supplemental materials upon request or available in PRL journal website