Review of honeycomb-based Kitaev materials with zigzag magnetic ordering

TL;DR

This paper reviews honeycomb-based Kitaev materials with zigzag magnetic order, highlighting recent experimental discoveries of complex magnetic structures and providing detailed crystallographic data.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive overview of honeycomb Kitaev materials with zigzag order, including crystallographic details and recent developments in multi-k magnetic structures.

Findings

Recent experiments reveal multi-k magnetic structures in honeycomb Kitaev materials.

Crystallographic data for single and multi-k variants are provided.

The review discusses the implications of these structures for quantum spin liquids.

Abstract

The search for a Kitaev quantum spin liquid in crystalline magnetic materials has fueled intense interest in the two-dimensional honeycomb systems. Many promising candidate Kitaev systems are characterized by a long range ordered magnetic structure with an antiferromagnetic zigzag-type order, where the static moments form alternating ferromagnetic chains. Recent experiments on high-quality single crystals uncovered the existence of intriguing multi-$\mathbf{k}$ magnetic structures, which evolved from zigzag structures. Those discoveries have sparked new theoretical developments and amplified interest in these materials. We present an overview of the honeycomb materials known to display this type of magnetic structure and provide detailed crystallographic information for the possible single and multi-$\mathbf{k}$ variants.