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DOE OSTI · 2977291

Spin-strain interactions under hydrostatic pressure in α-RuCl 3

Hauspurg, A. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden (Germany); TU Dresden (Germany)]·Singh, Susmita [University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)]·Yanagisawa, T. [Hokkaido University, Sapporo (Japan)] (ORCID:0000000345588824)·Tsurkan, V. [University of Augsburg (Germany); Moldova State University, Chisinau (Moldova)] (ORCID:0000000160013151)·Wosnitza, J. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden (Germany); TU Dresden (Germany)]·Brenig, Wolfram [Technical University Braunschweig (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000229686363)·Perkins, Natalia B. [University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Technical University of Munich, Garching (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000290331860)·Zherlitsyn, S. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000303206488)
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Abstract

We investigate the effects of hydrostatic pressure on 𝛼−RuCl 3 , a prototypical material for the Kitaev spin model on a honeycomb lattice with a possible spin-liquid ground state. Using ultrasound measurements at pressures up to 1.16 GPa, we reveal significant modifications of the acoustic properties and the 𝐻−𝑇 phase diagram of this material. Hydrostatic pressure suppresses the three-dimensional magnetic order and induces a dimerization transition at higher pressures. At low pressures, the sound attenuation exhibits a linear temperature dependence, while above 0.28 GPa, it becomes nearly temperature independent, suggesting a shift in the phonon scattering regime dominated by Majorana fermions. These findings provide new insights into spin-strain interactions in Kitaev magnets and deliver a detailed characterization of the 𝐻−𝑇 phase diagram of 𝛼−RuCl 3 under hydrostatic pressure.

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Focused ion beamFrustrated magnetismKitaev candidate materialLiquid helium coolingMagnetismMagnetoacoustic effectPressure effectSingle crystal materialsUltrasoundUltrasound techniques

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Hauspurg, A. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden (Germany); TU Dresden (Germany)], Singh, Susmita [University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)], Yanagisawa, T. [Hokkaido University, Sapporo (Japan)] (ORCID:0000000345588824), Tsurkan, V. [University of Augsburg (Germany); Moldova State University, Chisinau (Moldova)] (ORCID:0000000160013151), Wosnitza, J. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden (Germany); TU Dresden (Germany)], Brenig, Wolfram [Technical University Braunschweig (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000229686363), Perkins, Natalia B. [University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Technical University of Munich, Garching (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000290331860), Zherlitsyn, S. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000303206488). 2025-10-03. Spin-strain interactions under hydrostatic pressure in α-RuCl 3. https://doi.org/10.1103/v9zy-rrf7

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Focused ion beam subjectFrustrated magnetism subjectKitaev candidate material subjectLiquid helium cooling subjectMagnetism subjectMagnetoacoustic effect subjectPressure effect subject

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