We study the spectrum of a bilayer of Kitaev magnets on the honeycomb lattice, coupled by Heisenberg exchange in the quantum-dimer phase at strong interlayer coupling. Using the perturbative Continuous Unitary transformation (pCUT) we perform series expansion starting from the fully dimerized limit, to evaluate the elementary excitations, reaching up to and focusing on the two-triplon sector. In stark contrast to conventional bilayer quantum magnets, and because of the broken $SU(2)$-invariance, encoded in the intralayer directional compass-exchange, the bilayer Kitaev magnet is shown to exhibit a rich structure of two-triplon scattering-state continua, as well as several collective two-triplon (anti)bound states. Direct physical pictures for the occurrence of the latter are provided and the (anti)bound states are studied versus the stacking type, the spin components, and the exchange parameters. In addition to the two-triplon spectra, we investigate a corresponding experimental probe by evaluating the magnetic Raman-scattering intensity. We find a very strong sensitivity of this intensity on the two-triplon interactions and the scattering geometry, however a signal from the (anti)bound states appears only in very close proximity to the continuum.
The combination of strong spin-orbit coupling and correlations, e.g. in ruthenates and iridates, has been proposed as a means to realize quantum materials with nontrivial topological properties. We discuss here Mott insulators where onsite spin-orbit coupling favors a local $J_{\textrm{tot}}=0$ singlet ground state. We investigate excitations into a low-lying triplet, triplons, and find them to acquire nontrivial band topology in a magnetic field. We also comment on magnetic states resulting from triplon condensation, where we find, in addition to the same ordered phases known from the $J_{\te…
We study the orbitally frustrated singlet-triplet models that emerge in the context of spin-orbit coupled Mott insulators with $t_{2g}^4$ electronic configuration. In these compounds, low-energy magnetic degrees of freedom can be cast in terms of three-flavor "triplon" operators describing the transitions between spin-orbit entangled $J=0$ ionic ground state and excited $J=1$ levels. In contrast to a conventional, flavor-isotropic O(3) singlet-triplet models, spin-orbit entangled triplon interactions are flavor-and-bond selective and thus highly frustrated. In a honeycomb lattice, we find clos…
Triplon-mediated pairing and the superconducting gap structure in bilayer nickelates
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and School of Physics, Nanjing University（南京大学固体微结构物理国家重点实验室和物理学院）；Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University（南京大学先进微结构协同创新中心）；Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research（马克斯·普朗克固体研究所）
Topological quantum paramagnets are exotic states of matter, whose magnetic excitations have a topological band structure, while the ground state is topologically trivial. Here we show that a simple model of quantum spins on a honeycomb bilayer hosts a time-reversal-symmetry protected $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological quantum paramagnet ({\em topological triplon insulator}) in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. The excitation spectrum of this quantum paramagnet consists of three triplon bands, two of which carry a nontrivial $\mathbb{Z}_2$ index. As a consequence, there appear two counterpropagatin…
We study a bilayer of the frustrated $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg-model on the square lattice. Starting from the dimer limit at strong interlayer coupling, we perform series expansions using the perturbative Continuous Unitary Transformation, based on the flow equation method, in order to determine the spectrum up to the two-triplon sector. From the one-triplon dispersion we obtain quantum critical lines for transitions from the dimer phase into either Néel or collinear magnetic order. For low to intermediate frustration these transitions are consistent with existing findings, based on the magnetic …
We demonstrate that low-lying triplon excitations in a bilayer Heisenberg antiferromagnet provide a promising avenue to realize magnetic analogs of twisted superfluid and supersolid phases that were recently reported for two-component ultracold atomic condensate in an optical lattice. Using a cluster Gutzwiller mean-field theory, we establish that Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI), that are common in many quantum magnets, stabilize these phases in a magnetic system, in contrast to the pair hopping process that is necessary for ultracold atoms. The critical value of DMI for transition to…
Orbital Order and Superconductivity in Bilayer Nickelate Compounds
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research（马克斯·普朗克固体的研究所）；Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University（马萨里克大学理学院凝聚态物理系）
We study ground state properties in the bilayer Kitaev model by means of the dimer expansion. The existence of parity symmetries in the system reduces the computational cost significantly. This allows us to expand the ground state energy and interlayer spin-spin correlation up to 30th order in the interdimer Kitaev coupling. The numerical calculations clarify that the dimer singlet state is indeed realized in the wide parameter region.
The ground state of the bilayer Kitaev model with the Heisenberg-type interlayer exchange interaction is investigated by means of the exact diagonalization. Calculating the ground-state energy, local quantity defined on each plaquette, and dynamical spin structure factor, we obtain results suggesting the existence of a quantum phase transition between the Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL) and dimer singlet states when the interlayer coupling is antiferromagnetic. On the other hand, increasing the ferromagnetic interlayer coupling, there exists no singularity in the physical quantities, suggesti…
In recent years, there have been numerous examples of twisted bilayer systems that host remarkable physical properties that are not found in their untwisted counterparts. Motivated by this, we study the properties of twisted bilayers of the Kitaev honeycomb model in the Abelian spin liquid phase. We show that for strong, short-ranged, interlayer interactions, a super-lattice of non-Abelian defects forms in the twisted bilayer system. These non-Abelian defects are wormhole-like genons that allow anyons from one layer to tunnel to the other layer. We find that when a magnetic field is applied to…
Kitaev's honeycomb-lattice spin-$1/2$ model has become a paradigmatic example for $\mathbb{Z}_2$ quantum spin liquids, both gapped and gapless. Here we study the fate of these spin-liquid phases in differently stacked bilayer versions of the Kitaev model. Increasing the ratio between the inter-layer Heisenberg coupling $J_\perp$ and the intra-layer Kitaev couplings $K^{x,y,z}$ destroys the topological spin liquid in favor of a paramagnetic dimer phase. We study phase diagrams as a function of $J_\perp/K$ and Kitaev coupling anisotropies using Majorana-fermion mean-field theory, and we employ d…
Tuning the magnetic properties of Kitaev materials via the antiferromagnetic proximity effect: Novel phases and application to an $α$-RuCl$_3$/MnPS$_3$ bilayer
Arizona State University（亚利桑那州立大学）；Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology（慕尼黑量子科学与技术中心）
We determine the phase diagram of a bilayer, Yao-Lee spin-orbital model with inter-layer interactions (J), for several stackings and moiré superlattices. For AA stacking, a gapped Z2 quantum spin liquid phase emerges at a finite Jc. We show that this phase survives in the well-controlled large-J limit, where an isotropic honeycomb toric code emerges. For moiré superlattices, a finite-q inter-layer hybridization is stabilized. This connects inequivalent Dirac points, effectively `untwisting' the system. Our study thus provides insight into the spin-liquid phases of bilayer spin-orbital Kitaev m…
Kitaev quantum spin liquids have been the focus of intense research effort thanks to the discovery of various materials (e.g., RuCl3) that approximate their intriguing physics. In this paper we construct a mean-field approximation for a moir`e superlattice emerging in twisted Kitaev bilayers in terms of solutions of commensurate bilayers. We show that the band structure of deconfined spinons, defined on the mini-Brillouin zone of the superlattice, is greatly modified. The system exhibits a hyper-magic manifold: a series of nearly perfectly-flat bands appear at energies above the lowest gap, ex…
We investigate a bilayer Kitaev model, where two honeycomb layers are coupled by the Heisenberg interactions, to discuss effects of an interlayer coupling against the Kitaev quantum spin liquids (QSLs). In this model, there exists a local conserved quantity, which results in no long-range spin correlations in the system. Using the exact diagonalization, bond operator mean-field theory, and cluster expansion techniques, we study ground state properties in the system. The obtained results suggest the existence of a first-order quantum phase transition between the Kitaev QSL and singlet-dimer sta…
The S=1/2 Heisenberg bilayer spin model at zero temperature is studied in the dimerized phase using analytic triplet-wave expansions and dimer series expansions. The occurrence of two-triplon bound states in the S=0 and S=1 channels, and antibound states in the S=2 channel, is predicted by the triplet-wave theory, and confirmed by series expansions. All bound states are found to vanish at or before the critical coupling separating the dimerized phase from the Neel phase. The critical behaviour of the total and single-particle static transverse structure factors is also studied by series, and f…
We investigate the influence of quenched disorder on the dynamic structure factor of Heisenberg bilayers on the square, triangular, and kagome lattice in the quantum paramagnetic phase. Perturbative continuous unitary transformations and white graphs are employed to calculate the one-triplon contribution up to high orders in perturbation about the dimer limit for bimodal and continuous disorder. For the square lattice we find that the lifetime of the gap mode is increased by stronger quantum correlations while stronger disorder effects are observed for the triangular lattice due to geometric f…
Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations along with higher-order spin-wave theory, bond-operator and strong-coupling expansions, we analyse the dynamical spin structure factor of the spin-half Heisenberg model on the square-lattice bilayer. We identify distinct contributions from the low-energy Goldstone modes in the magnetically ordered phase and the gapped triplon modes in the quantum disordered phase. In the antisymmetric (with respect to layer inversion) channel, the dynamical spin structure factor exhibits a continuous evolution of spectral features across the quantum phase transition, conne…
We propose an experimental method utilizing a strongly spin-orbit coupled metal to quantum magnet bilayer that will probe quantum magnets lacking long range magnetic order, e.g., quantum spin liquids, via examination of the voltage noise spectrum in the metal layer. The bilayer is held in thermal and chemical equilibrium, and spin fluctuations arising across the single interface are converted into voltage fluctuations in the metal as a result of the inverse spin Hall effect. We elucidate the theoretical workings of the proposed bilayer system, and provide precise predictions for the frequency …
