Dynamics of K<sub>2</sub>Ni<sub>2</sub>(SO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub> governed by proximity to a 3D spin liquid model.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39168995.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-51362-1 and PMC identifier 11339072.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
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Abstract
Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) have become a key area of research in magnetism due to their remarkable properties, such as long-range entanglement, fractional excitations, and topologically protected phenomena. Recently, the search for QSLs has expanded into the three-dimensional world, despite the suppression of quantum fluctuations due to high dimensionality. A new candidate material, K<sub>2</sub>Ni<sub>2</sub>(SO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub>, belongs to the langbeinite family and consists of two interconnected trillium lattices. Although magnetically ordered, it exhibits a highly dynamical and correlated state. In this work, we combine inelastic neutron scattering measurements with density functional theory (DFT), pseudo-fermion functional renormalization group (PFFRG), and classical Monte Carlo (cMC) calculations to study the magnetic properties of K<sub>2</sub>Ni<sub>2</sub>(SO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub>, revealing a high level of agreement between experiment and theory. We further reveal the origin of the dynamical state in K<sub>2</sub>Ni<sub>2</sub>(SO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub> to be centred around a magnetic network composed of tetrahedra on a trillium lattice.