Neutron scattering in the proximate quantum spin liquid alpha-RuCl3

Abstract

Quantum spin liquids—materials whose magnetic spins do not settle into order even at absolute zero temperature—have long captured the interest of physicists. A particularly lofty goal is finding a material that can be described by the so-called Kitaev spin model, a network of spins on a honeycomb lattice that harbors Majorana fermions as its excitations. Banerjee et al. present a comprehensive inelastic neutron scattering study of single crystals of the material α-RuCl3, which has been predicted to a host a Kitaev spin liquid. The unusual dependence of the data on energy, momentum, and temperature is consistent with the Kitaev model.