# Unconventional bipartite entanglement in the quantum dimer magnet Yb2Be2SiO7

**Authors:** A. Brassington, Q. Ma, G. Duan, S. Calder, A. I. Kolesnikov, K. M. Taddei, G. Sala, E. S. Choi, H. Wang, W. Xie, B. A. Frandsen, N. Li, X. F. Sun, C. Liu, R. Yu, H. D. Zhou, A. A. Aczel

PMC · DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-69258-7 · 2026-03-25

## TL;DR

The paper studies a quantum dimer magnet, Yb2Be2SiO7, and finds it hosts an unusual entangled state with a unique singlet ground state.

## Contribution

The study reveals an unconventional bipartite entanglement in a quantum dimer magnet with strong spin-orbit coupling.

## Key findings

- Yb2Be2SiO7 does not show magnetic order down to 50 mK.
- The system's ground state is described by an anisotropic singlet wavefunction.
- Strong spin-orbit coupling leads to unusual entangled states in quantum dimer magnets.

## Abstract

The quantum dimer magnet, with antiferromagnetic intradimer and interdimer Heisenberg exchange between spin-1/2 moments, is known to host an \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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				\begin{document}$$(\left|\uparrow \downarrow \right\rangle -\left|\downarrow \uparrow \right\rangle )/\sqrt{2}$$\end{document}(↑↓−↓↑)/2 singlet ground state when the intradimer exchange is dominant. Rare-earth-based quantum dimer systems with strong spin-orbit coupling offer the opportunity for tuning their magnetic properties by using magnetic anisotropy as a control knob. Here, we present bulk characterization and neutron scattering measurements of the quantum dimer magnet Yb2Be2SiO7. We find that the Yb3+ ions can be described by an effective spin-1/2 model at low temperatures and the system does not show signs of magnetic order down to 50 mK. The magnetization, heat capacity, and neutron spectroscopy data can be well-described by an isolated dimer model with highly anisotropic exchange that stabilizes a singlet ground state with a wavefunction \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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				\begin{document}$$(\left|\uparrow \uparrow \right\rangle+\left|\downarrow \downarrow \right\rangle )/\sqrt{2}$$\end{document}(↑↑+↓↓)/2. Our results show that strong spin-orbit coupling can induce unusual entangled states of matter in quantum dimer magnets.

The Shastry-Sutherland model consists of orthogonal dimers in a two dimensional plane, and has proved a rich basis for both theoretical and experimental investigation of quantum magnetism. Here, Brassington et al show that Yb2Be2SiO7 hosts an anisotropic variant of the Shastry Sutherland model.

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** SSL (MESH:C537761)
- **Chemicals:** SiO2 (MESH:D012822), Al (MESH:D000535), BeO (MESH:C032777), S (MESH:D013455), Si (MESH:D012825), Be (MESH:D001608), He (MESH:D006371), Er (MESH:D004871), Lu (MESH:D008187), Pd (MESH:D010165), AC (MESH:D000186), Z (MESH:C000597310), rare earth (MESH:D008674), Zn (MESH:D015032), Cs (MESH:D002586), Pt (MESH:D010984), Yb (MESH:D015018), Ge (MESH:D005857), O (MESH:D010100), T (MESH:D014316), BaCe2ZnS5 (-), CNCS (MESH:D000069449), H (MESH:D006859)
- **Cell lines:** HB-2A — Mus musculus (Mouse), Spontaneously immortalized cell line (CVCL_S886)

## Figures

4 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC13018291/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC13018291