Probing Chiral Kitaev Spin Liquids via Dangling Boundary Fermions

TL;DR

This paper proposes using scanning tunneling microscopy to detect chiral Kitaev spin liquids by observing boundary Majorana fermions, providing a new experimental diagnostic for these exotic quantum states.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to identify chiral Kitaev spin liquids through boundary measurements of dangling Majorana fermions using STM.

Findings

Dangling Majorana fermions serve as indicators of chiral boundary modes.

STM measurements can detect signatures of chiral Kitaev spin liquids.

The approach offers a practical experimental probe for quantum spin liquids.

Abstract

Identifying experimental probes capable of diagnosing extreme quantum behavior is widely regarded as one of the foremost challenges in modern condensed matter physics. Here, we propose a novel approach for detecting chiral Kitaev spin liquid states through measurements of the local dynamical spin structure factor on the boundary using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We specifically focus on unpaired ("dangling") Majorana fermions, which naturally emerge along boundaries of Kitaev spin liquids, and can serve as indicators of chiral boundary modes under broad conditions, thereby offering a clear signature of these exotic quantum states.