Localized Triplons and Site Stuffing in the Quantum Dimer Magnet BiYbGeO$_5$

TL;DR

This study provides spectroscopic evidence of localized triplet excitations and structural disorder in BiYbGeO$_5$, a quantum dimer magnet, revealing how site dilution affects entangled spin states.

Contribution

It offers the first direct spectroscopic characterization of triplet excitations and structural disorder in BiYbGeO$_5$, demonstrating its status as a disordered quantum dimer system.

Findings

No magnetic order down to 58 mK.

Approximately 20% Yb sites replaced by Bi, causing disorder.

Dispersionless triplon excitations consistent with localized dimers.

Abstract

Thermodynamic and muon spin-relaxation measurements have recently highlighted BiYbGeO$_5$ as a new example of a rare-earth-based quantum dimer magnet with isolated Yb$^{3+}$ spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ dimers. However, direct spectroscopic evidence of the triplet excitations and measurements of the structural disorder are lacking. In this work, polycrystalline BiYbGeO$_5$ was synthesized using conventional high-temperature solid-state methods and investigated via high-resolution neutron powder diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering. Diffraction measurements down to 58 mK reveal no signatures of magnetic order and indicate that nearly 20\% of Yb$^{3+}$ sites are replaced by non-magnetic Bi$^{3+}$, introducing significant structural disorder. Inelastic neutron scattering shows dispersionless triplon excitations, consistent with localized, non-interacting spin dimers. Fits to the triplet excitation spectrum identify an XXZ-type anisotropic exchange with $J_{XX}$ = 0.11(2) meV and $J_Z = 0.15(1)$ meV. These findings establish BiYbGeO$_5$ as a structurally disordered but magnetically well-isolated quantum dimer system, providing a model platform for studying the resilience of entangled spin states to site dilution.