Half-integer quantized thermal Hall conductance without out-of-plane magnetic field in a chiral spin liquid state of α-RuCl<sub>3</sub>

Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL) displays the fractionalization of quantum spins into Majorana fermions. In magnetic fields, the emergence of Majorana edge current is predicted to manifest itself in the form of half-integer quantized thermal Hall plateau, which has recently been reported for two-dimensional honeycomb material α-RuCl₃ [1]. While the conventional electronic Hall effect requires a perpendicular magnetic field, we find that the thermal Hall plateau appears even for a magnetic field with no out-of-plane components. In addition, the topological Chern number determinied by the sign of the quantized thermal Hall conductance is consistent with that expected in the pure Kitaev spin liquid. These results demonstrate that the Kitaev interaction is primarily responsible and that the non-Abelian topological order persists even in the presence of non-Kitaev interactions in α-RuCl₃.

[1] Y. Kasahara et al. Nature 559, 227-231 (2018).

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Bulletin of the American Physical Society

APS March Meeting 2020

Volume 65, Number 1

Monday–Friday, March 2–6, 2020; Denver, Colorado

Session L47: Kitaev Magnetism: Experiment

Abstract: L47.00006 : Half-integer quantized thermal Hall conductance without out-of-plane magnetic field in a chiral spin liquid state of α-RuCl3

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Abstract: L47.00006 : Half-integer quantized thermal Hall conductance without out-of-plane magnetic field in a chiral spin liquid state of α-RuCl₃