# Randomness-induced quantum spin liquid behavior in the s=1/2 random J1-J2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice

## TL;DR

This study shows that randomness can induce a gapless quantum spin liquid-like state in a frustrated honeycomb lattice Heisenberg model, suggesting such states may be common in real materials with inherent disorder.

## Contribution

The paper demonstrates that randomness stabilizes a gapless QSL-like state over a wide parameter range in the honeycomb J1-J2 Heisenberg model, highlighting the role of disorder in quantum spin liquids.

## Key findings

- Randomness induces a gapless QSL-like state in the model.
- The random-singlet state is robust across various parameters.
- Implications for experimental materials exhibiting QSL-like behaviors.

## Abstract

We investigate the ground-state and finite-temperature properties of the bond-random $s=1/2$ Heisenberg model on a honeycomb lattice with frustrated nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions, $J_1$ and $J_2$, by the exact diagonalization and the Hams--de Raedt methods. The ground-state phase diagram of the model is constructed in the randomness versus the frustration ($J_2/J_1$) plane, with the aim of clarifying the effects of randomness and frustration in stabilizing a variety of distinct phases. We find that the randomness induces the gapless quantum spin liquid (QSL)-like state, the random-singlet state, in a wide range of parameter space. The observed robustness of the random-singlet state suggests that the gapless QSL-like behaviors might be realized in a wide class of frustrated quantum magnets possessing a certain amount of randomness or inhomogeneity, without fine-tuning the interaction parameters. Possible implications to recent experiments on the honeycomb-lattice magnets Ba$_3$CuSb$_2$O$_9$ and 6HB-Ba$_3$NiSb$_2$O$_9$ exhibiting the gapless QSL-like behaviors are discussed.