Research Highlight
Magnetic field induced quantum spin liquid in the two coupled trillium lattices of K2Ni2(SO4)3
Quantum spin liquid candidates are usually two-dimensional materials with spin 1/2 magnetic ions. We investigated the material K2Ni2(SO4)3 with several experimental and theoretical techniques; it has Ni2+ ions with spin 1 forming a complex 3D network of two coupled trillium lattices (in the trillium lattice, each magnetic site participates in three equilateral corner-sharing triangles). Density functional theory based energy mapping identifies an intriguing model with strong antiferromagnetic couplings for both trillium lattices and for the coupling between them. Both inelastic neutron scattering and pseudo-Fermion functional renormalization group calculations show that K2Ni2(SO4)3 is a 3D material with strong quantum fluctations. Magnetic moments show a tiny static component at zero field which is suppressed by a small magnetic field, indicating that K2Ni2(SO4)3 is a magnetic field induced quantum spin liquid.
I. Živković, V. Favre, C. Salazar Mejía, H. O. Jeschke, A. Magrez, B. Dabholkar, V. Noculak, R. S. Freitas, M. Jeong, N. G. Hegde, L. Testa, P. Babkevich, Y. Su, P. Manuel, H. Luetkens, C. Baines, P. J. Baker, J. Wosnitza, O. Zaharko, Y. Iqbal, J. Reuther, H. M. Rønnow
Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 157204 (2021) <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.157204>
