From Claringbullite to a New Spin Liquid Candidate Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl
Zili Feng1,2†, Wei Yi3†, Kejia Zhu1, Yuan Wei1,2, Shanshan Miao1, Jie Ma4,5, Jianlin Luo1,2,6, Shiliang Li1,2,6**, Zi Yang Meng1,7,8**, Youguo Shi1,2**
1Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 2School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 3Nano Electronics Device Materials group, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan 4Key Laboratory of Artificial Structures and Quantum Control, School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 5Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093 6Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100190 7CAS Center of Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation and School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 8Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan 523808
Abstract：The search for quantum spin liquid (QSL) materials has attracted significant attention in the field of condensed matter physics in recent years, however so far only a handful of them are considered as candidates hosting QSL ground state. Owning to their geometrically frustrated structures, Kagome materials are ideal systems to realize QSL. We synthesize the kagome structured material claringbullite (Cu$_4$(OH)$_6$FCl) and then replace inter-layer Cu with Zn to form Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl. Comprehensive measurements reveal that doping Zn$^{2+}$ ions transforms magnetically ordered Cu$_4$(OH)$_6$FCl into a non-magnetic QSL candidate Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl. Therefore, the successful syntheses of Cu$_4$(OH)$_6$FCl and Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl provide not only a new platform for the study of QSL but also a novel pathway of investigating the transition between QSL and magnetically ordered systems.
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2019, Vol. 36 
