Proximate Kitaev system for an intermediate magnetic phase in in-plane magnetic fields

TL;DR

This study models the magnetic phase transitions in a proximate Kitaev system under in-plane magnetic fields, revealing an intermediate phase and how additional interactions influence it, aligning with experimental findings.

Contribution

It introduces a minimal quantum spin model capturing the magnetic phase transition and intermediate phase in proximate Kitaev systems under various magnetic field orientations.

Findings

The model exhibits a transition from zigzag to spin polarized phase with an intermediate phase.

The intermediate phase appears under both in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic fields.

Additional interactions can suppress the intermediate phase, matching experimental observations.

Abstract

Motivated by the magnetic phase transition of a proximate Kitaev system $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ in the presence of a magnetic field, we study the simplest but essential quantum spin model with the ferromagnetic nearest neighboring (NN) Kitaev interaction and additional antiferromagnetic third NN Heisenberg interaction. Employing both exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group methods, we demonstrate that the model shows the magnetic phase transition from the zigzag order phase to the spin polarized phase through an intermediate phase in both cases when an in-plane magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the NN bond direction and when an out-of-plane field is applied, in good agreement with experimental observations. Furthermore, we verify that additional symmetric off-diagonal $\Gamma$ interaction and ferromagnetic Heisenberg interaction between NN spins can both suppress the intermediate phase with the in-plane field. Our result gives important clues on determining relevant interactions in the field-induced magnetic phase transition of proximate Kiteav systems.