Magnetic Spectrum of a New Spin Liquid with Heisenberg-Kitaev Interactions

We propose to continue our investigation of the magnetic excitation spectrum of the potential Kitaev spin liquid compound Li2RhO3. Moderate spin orbit coupling in the Rh4+ ion is expected to results in a ground state doublet which in combination with the honeycomb structure of RhO6 edge-sharing octahedral, gives rise to highly directional Kitaev interactions. The magnetic excitation spectrum of a powder sample of Li2RhO3 recently collected at base temperature at LET revealed the magnetic signal at low wave vector extending up 10meV. In this experiment we wish to explore the magnetic excitations in Li2RhO3 at finite temperatures in order to distinguish the spin-waves contribution from the excitations caused by the Kitaev interactions and to estimate the energy range of the Kitaev term.我们提议延续针对潜在基塔耶夫自旋液体（Kitaev spin liquid）候选材料Li₂RhO₃的磁激发谱研究。铑4+（Rh⁴+）离子具备适度的自旋轨道耦合，预计将形成基态二重态；该基态二重态与由RhO₆共边八面体构成的蜂窝状结构相结合，可产生具有高度方向性的基塔耶夫相互作用。近期在LET仪器上于基温下采集的Li₂RhO₃粉末样品磁激发谱数据显示，低波矢区间存在可延伸至10毫电子伏特（meV）的磁信号。本实验旨在探究Li₂RhO₃在有限温度下的磁激发行为，以区分自旋波贡献与基塔耶夫相互作用引发的激发，并估算基塔耶夫项的能量范围。