Raman spectroscopic diagnostic of quantum spin liquids

Abstract

Quantum spin liquids are outstanding examples of highly quantum entangled phases of matter and serve as a testbed to gauge central concepts of strongly correlated materials. Enormous research efforts in the past few decades have brought an in-depth understanding of these novel phases, although their conundrums have not yet been solved completely. In this review, we give an overview of the three different classes of spin-liquid materials: (i) a one-dimensional spin chain system KCuF3, (ii) a kagome antiferromagnet ZnCu3(OH)(6)Cl-2, and (iii) a Kitaev honeycomb material alpha-RuCl3. The emphasis is on demonstrating the success of the Raman scattering technique for probing fractionalized excitations in the aforementioned spin-liquid compounds, complementing a well-established neutron scattering method. Irrespective of dimensionality, spin topology, and spin-exchange type, the three materials share several common features in the spectral shape and temperature dependence of magnetic excitations, which can be taken as Raman spectroscopic fingerprints of quantum spin liquids.