Dilution of the magnetic lattice in the Kitaev candidate α−RuCl3 by Rh3+ doping

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Abstract

Magnetic dilution of a well-established Kitaev candidate system is realized in the substitutional Ru1-xRhxCl3 series (x=0.02-0.6). Optimized syntheses protocols yield uniformly doped single crystals and polycrystalline powders that are isostructural to the parental α-RuCl3 as per x-ray diffraction. The Rh content x is accurately determined by the quantitative energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy technique with standards. We determine the magnetic phase diagram of Ru1-xRhxCl3 for in-plane magnetic fields from magnetization and specific-heat measurements as a function of x and stacking periodicity and identify the suppression of the magnetic order at x≈0.2 towards a disordered phase, which does not show any clear signature of freezing into a spin glass. Comparing with previous studies on the substitution series Ru1-xIrxCl3, we propose that chemical pressure would contribute to the suppression of magnetic order, especially in Ru1-xIrxCl3, and that the zigzag magnetic ground state appears to be relatively robust with respect to the dilution of the Kitaev-Γ-Heisenberg magnetic lattice. We also discovered a slight dependence of the magnetic properties on thermal cycling, which would be due to an incomplete structural transition.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number114403
JournalPhysical review materials
Volume6
Issue number11
Publication statusPublished - 16 Nov 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

unpaywall 10.1103/physrevmaterials.6.114403
Mendeley 9053ba0f-9d9d-368f-a085-9ef99240d3e5
Scopus 85143665688
WOS 000893260400001

Keywords

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Subject groups, research areas, subject areas according to Destatis

Keywords

  • Spin, Liquid