Randomly Hopping Majorana Fermions in the Diluted Kitaev System α - Ru0.8Ir0.2Cl3

Seung Hwan Do, C. H. Lee, Takumi Kihara, Y. S. Choi, Sungwon Yoon, Kangwon Kim, Hyeonsik Cheong, Wei Tin Chen, Fangcheng Chou, H. Nojiri, Kwang Yong Choi

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23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

dc and ac magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, specific heat, and Raman scattering measurements are combined to probe low-lying spin excitations in α-Ru1-xIrxCl3 (x≈0.2), which realizes a disordered spin liquid. At intermediate energies (â.,ω>3 meV), Raman spectroscopy evidences linearly ω-dependent Majorana-like excitations, obeying Fermi statistics. This points to robustness of a Kitaev paramagnetic state under spin vacancies. At low energies below 3 meV, we observe power-law dependences and quantum-critical-like scalings of the thermodynamic quantities, implying the presence of a weakly divergent low-energy density of states. This scaling phenomenology is interpreted in terms of the random hoppings of Majorana fermions. Our results demonstrate an emergent hierarchy of spin excitations in a diluted Kitaev honeycomb system subject to spin vacancies and bond randomness.

Original languageEnglish
Article number047204
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume124
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020 Jan 31

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy(all)

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