Cargando…

Chasing the spin gap through the phase diagram of a frustrated Mott insulator

The quest for entangled spin excitations has stimulated intense research on frustrated magnetic systems. For almost two decades, the triangular-lattice Mott insulator κ-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu(2)(CN)(3) has been one of the hottest candidates for a gapless quantum spin liquid with itinerant spinons. Very rec...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Pustogow, A., Kawasugi, Y., Sakurakoji, H., Tajima, N.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10082190/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37029139
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37491-z
Descripción
Sumario:The quest for entangled spin excitations has stimulated intense research on frustrated magnetic systems. For almost two decades, the triangular-lattice Mott insulator κ-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu(2)(CN)(3) has been one of the hottest candidates for a gapless quantum spin liquid with itinerant spinons. Very recently, however, this scenario was overturned as electron-spin-resonance (ESR) studies unveiled a spin gap, calling for reevaluation of the magnetic ground state. Here we achieve a precise mapping of this spin-gapped phase through the Mott transition by ultrahigh-resolution strain tuning. Our transport experiments reveal a reentrance of charge localization below T(⋆) = 6 K associated with a gap size of 30–50 K. The negative slope of the insulator-metal boundary, dT(⋆)/dp < 0, evidences the low-entropy nature of the spin-singlet ground state. By tuning the enigmatic ‘6K anomaly’ through the phase diagram of κ-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu(2)(CN)(3), we identify it as the transition to a valence-bond-solid phase, in agreement with previous thermal expansion and magnetic resonance studies. This spin-gapped insulating state persists at T → 0 until unconventional superconductivity and metallic transport proliferate.