From Claringbullite to a new spin liquid candidate Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl

TL;DR

This paper reports the synthesis of a new kagome-structured material, Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl, which is a promising quantum spin liquid candidate resulting from Zn doping of Claringbullite, providing a new platform to study QSL states.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel synthesis route for a QSL candidate by doping Zn into Claringbullite, enabling exploration of QSL and magnetic order transitions.

Findings

Zn doping transforms magnetic order into a non-magnetic QSL candidate.

Successful synthesis of Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl as a new QSL platform.

Provides insights into the transition between QSL and magnetic order.

Abstract

The search for quantum spin liquid (QSL) materials has attracted significant attention in the field of condensed matter physics in recent years, but until now only a handful of them are considered as candidates hosting QSL ground state. Owning to their geometrically frustrated structure, Kagome materials are ideal system to realize QSL. In this study, we synthesized the kagome structured material Claringbullite (Cu$_4$(OH)$_6$FCl) and then performed Zn doping to form Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl. Comprehensive measurements reveal that doping Zn$^{2+}$ ions transforms magnetically ordered Cu$_4$(OH)$_6$FCl into a non-magnetic QSL candidate Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl. Therefore, the successful syntheses of Cu$_4$(OH)$_6$FCl and Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl not only provide a new platform for the study of QSL but also a novel pathway of investigating the transition between QSL and magnetically ordered systems.