Schwinger-Boson mean-field study of spin-1/2 $J_1$-$J_2$-$J_{\chi}$ model in honeycomb lattice: thermal Hall signature

TL;DR

This study uses Schwinger-Boson mean-field theory to explore phase transitions in a honeycomb lattice spin-1/2 system, revealing a chiral spin liquid with topological excitations and a significant thermal Hall effect.

Contribution

It provides a detailed phase diagram of the $J_1$-$J_2$-$J_{ ext{chi}}$ model, identifying a chiral $Z_2$ spin liquid with non-trivial Chern bands and thermal Hall signatures, which is novel.

Findings

Identification of a chiral $Z_2$ spin liquid phase with non-trivial Chern numbers.

Large thermal Hall coefficient in the chiral phase.

Phase diagram distinguishing phases by gap, excitation spectrum, and topological invariants.

Abstract

We theoretically investigate, within the Schwinger-Boson mean-field theory, the transition from a gapped $Z_{2}$ quantum spin-liquid, in a $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg spin-1/2 system in a honeycomb lattice, to a chiral $Z_2$ spin liquid phase under the presence of time-reversal symmetry breaking scalar chiral interaction (with amplitude $J_{\chi}$), with non-trivial Chern bands of the excitations. We numerically obtain a phase diagram of such $J_1$-$J_2$-$J_{\chi}$ system, where different phases are distinguished based on the gap and the nature of excitation spectrum, topological invariant of the excitations, the nature of spin-spin correlation and the symmetries of the mean-field parameters. The chiral $Z_2$ state is characterized by non-trivial Chern number of the excitation bands and lack of long-range magnetic order, which leads to large thermal Hall coefficient.