Local Magnetism and Spin Dynamics of the Frustrated Honeycomb Rhodate Li2RhO3

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic properties and spin dynamics of Li2RhO3, revealing partial spin-freezing, absence of long-range order, and coexistence of frozen and fluctuating spin states in a honeycomb lattice.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the complex magnetic behavior and spin liquid characteristics of Li2RhO3 through comprehensive experimental measurements.

Findings

Partial spin-freezing of Rh4+ moments at 6 K

No long-range magnetic order down to 0.35 K

Coexistence of frozen and fluctuating spin states

Abstract

We report magnetization, heat capacity, 7Li - nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and muSR (muon spin roration) measurements on the honeycomb 4d5 spin liquid candidate Li2RhO3. The magnetization in small magnetic fields provides evidence of the partial spin-freezing of a small fraction of Rh4+ -moments at 6 K, whereas the Curie-Weiss behavior above 100 K suggests a pseudo-spin-1/2 paramagnet with a moment of about 2.2 muB. The magnetic specific heat (Cm) exhibits no field dependence and demonstrates the absence of long range magnetic order down to 0.35 K. Cm/T passes through a broad maximum at about 10 K and Cm=T^2 at low temperatures. Measurements of the spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T1) reveal a gapless slowing down of spin fluctuations upon cooling with 1/T1=T^2.2. The results from NMR and muSR are consistent with a scenario in which a minority of Rh4+ moments are in a ahort-range correlated frozen state and coexist with a majority of moments in a liquid-like state that continue to fluctuate at low temperatures.