Unconventional magnetic oscillations in a kagome Mott insulator.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39888914.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.2421390122 and PMC identifier 11804708.
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Abstract
In metals, electrons in a magnetic field undergo cyclotron motion, leading to oscillations in physical properties called quantum oscillations. This phenomenon has never been seen in a robust insulator because there are no mobile electrons. We report an exception to this rule. We study a Mott insulator on a kagome lattice which does not order magnetically down to milli-Kelvin temperatures despite antiferromagnetic interactions. We observe a plateau at magnetization equal to [Formula: see text] Bohr magneton per magnetic ion, accompanied by oscillations in the magnetic torque, reminiscent of quantum oscillations in metals. The temperature dependence obeys Fermi distribution. These phenomena are consistent with a quantum spin liquid state whose excitations are fermionic spinons with a Dirac-like spectrum coupled to an emergent gauge field.