ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Kohn anomaly in a triangular-lattice quantum-spin-liquid candidate

Abstract: A quantum spin liquid (QSL) shows no magnetic order down to zero temperature but the spins are highly entangled. In a 2D spin-1/2 triangular-lattice QSL YbMgGaO4, our previous neutron scattering measurements have revealed dispersive spinon excitations with a clear upper excitation edge. Here, we propose to study its phonon excitations in details to look for Kohn anomaly in spin channel. The Kohn anomaly behaves as a deviation of phonon excitations from its conventional dispersion at the nesting vector of spinon Fermi surface. It will be enhanced with decreasing temperature due to the development of QSL state. The observation of Kohn anomaly can not only provide unambiguou evidence of spinon Fermi surfaces, but also make it possible to evaluate the topology of the spinon Fermi surface from the wave vector.

Principal Investigator: Mr Jun Zhao
Experimenter: Dr Yao Shen
Local Contact: Dr David Voneshen
Experimenter: Dr Xiaowen Zhang

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1810266

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1810266

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Mr Jun Zhao et al; (2018): Kohn anomaly in a triangular-lattice quantum-spin-liquid candidate, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1810266

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.