Low temperature thermal transport in the spin liquid state of a-RuCl3

Abstract

The insulating quantum magnet a-RuCl3 is the closest known proximate to the Kitaev hexagonal model. Below 7 K, it orders as an antiferromagnet with a zig-zag motif. Application of an in-plane magnetic field B||a destroys the magnetic order at 7.3 T. In the field interval 7.3 to 11.5 Tesla, neutron scattering results strongly suggest a quantum spin liquid (QSL) state with no long-range order. I will describe experiments exploring the QSL state using the thermal conductivity tensor elements Kxx and Kxy at temperatures down to 0.4 K.