Spin Liquid State in the 3D Frustrated Antiferromagnet PbCuTe2O6: NMR and muSR Studies

TL;DR

This study provides evidence that PbCuTe2O6 is a three-dimensional spin liquid with gapless excitations and no magnetic freezing down to 20 mK, characterized by homogeneous magnetic behavior and persistent spin fluctuations.

Contribution

First comprehensive local probe investigation confirming the gapless, homogeneous spin liquid state in a 3D frustrated antiferromagnet PbCuTe2O6 using NMR and muSR techniques.

Findings

No magnetic freezing observed down to 20 mK.

Homogeneous magnetic susceptibility consistent with a spin liquid.

Evidence of gapless fermionic excitations and spin dynamics slowing down at low temperatures.

Abstract

PbCuTe2O6 is a rare example of a spin liquid candidate featuring a three dimensional magnetic lattice. Strong geometric frustration arises from the dominant antiferromagnetic interaction which generates a hyperkagome network of Cu2+ ions although additional interactions enhance the magnetic lattice connectivity. Through a combination of magnetization measurements and local probe investigation by NMR and muSR down to 20 mK, we provide a robust evidence for the absence of magnetic freezing in the ground state. The local spin susceptibility probed by the NMR shift hardly deviates from the macroscopic one down to 1 K pointing to a homogeneous magnetic system with a low defect concentration. The saturation of the NMR shift and the sublinear power law temperature (T) evolution of the 1/T1 NMR relaxation rate at low T point to a non-singlet ground state favoring a gapless fermionic description of the magnetic excitations. Below 1 K a pronounced slowing down of the spin dynamics is witnessed, which may signal a reconstruction of spinon Fermi surface. Nonetheless, the compound remains in a fluctuating spin liquid state down to the lowest temperature of the present investigation.