Signatures of Fractionalization in Spin Liquids from Interlayer Thermal Transport

Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) are intriguing phases of matter possessing fractionalized excitations. Several quasi-two-dimensional materials have been proposed as candidate QSLs, but direct evidence for fractionalization in these systems is still lacking. In this paper, we show that the interplane the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. X 2018-09, Vol.8 (3), p.031064, Article 031064
Main Authors: Werman, Yochai, Chatterjee, Shubhayu, Morampudi, Siddhardh C., Berg, Erez
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conductivity
Electron spin
Excitation
Fermi surfaces
Heat conductivity
Heat transfer
Integers
Interlayers
Layered materials
Liquids
Low temperature
Magnetic properties
Quantum numbers
Spin liquid
Temperature dependence
Thermal conductivity
Two dimensional materials
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Summary:Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) are intriguing phases of matter possessing fractionalized excitations. Several quasi-two-dimensional materials have been proposed as candidate QSLs, but direct evidence for fractionalization in these systems is still lacking. In this paper, we show that the interplane thermal conductivity in layered QSLs carries a unique signature of fractionalization. We examine several types of gapless QSL phases—aZ2QSL with either a Dirac spectrum or a spinon Fermi surface, and aU(1)QSL with a Fermi surface—and consider both clean and disordered systems. In all cases, the in-plane andc-axis thermal conductivities have a different power-law dependence on temperature because of the different mechanisms of transport in the two directions: In the planes, the thermal current is carried by fractionalized excitations, whereas the interplane current is carried by integer (nonfractional) excitations. In layeredZ2andU(1)QSLs with a Fermi surface, and in the disorderedZ2QSL with a Dirac dispersion, thec-axis thermal conductivity is parametrically smaller than the in-plane one but parametrically larger than the phonon contribution at low temperatures.
ISSN:2160-3308
2160-3308
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevX.8.031064