Kondo screening in a Majorana metal

S. Lee, Y. S. Choi, S.-H. Do, W. Lee, C. H. Lee, M. Lee, M. Vojta, C. N. Wang, H. Luetkens, Z. Guguchia and K.-Y. Choi ()
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S. Lee: Center for Artificial Low Dimensional Electronic Systems, Institute for Basic Science
Y. S. Choi: Sungkyunkwan University
S.-H. Do: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
W. Lee: Center for Artificial Low Dimensional Electronic Systems, Institute for Basic Science
C. H. Lee: Chung-Ang University
M. Lee: Los Alamos National Laboratory
M. Vojta: Technische Universität Dresden
C. N. Wang: Paul Scherrer Institute
H. Luetkens: Paul Scherrer Institute
Z. Guguchia: Paul Scherrer Institute
K.-Y. Choi: Sungkyunkwan University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Kondo impurities provide a nontrivial probe to unravel the character of the excitations of a quantum spin liquid. In the S = 1/2 Kitaev model on the honeycomb lattice, Kondo impurities embedded in the spin-liquid host can be screened by itinerant Majorana fermions via gauge-flux binding. Here, we report experimental signatures of metallic-like Kondo screening at intermediate temperatures in the Kitaev honeycomb material α-RuCl3 with dilute Cr3+ (S = 3/2) impurities. The static magnetic susceptibility, the muon Knight shift, and the muon spin-relaxation rate all feature logarithmic divergences, a hallmark of a metallic Kondo effect. Concurrently, the linear coefficient of the magnetic specific heat is large in the same temperature regime, indicating the presence of a host Majorana metal. This observation opens new avenues for exploring uncharted Kondo physics in insulating quantum magnets.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43185-3

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