Intermediate-field spin(on) dynamics in α-RuCl₃

Intermediate-field spin(on) dynamics in α-RuCl₃ | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Intermediate-field spin(on) dynamics in α-RuCl₃ Arnab Banerjee, Colin Sarkis, Kiranmayi Dixit, Peng Rao, Guga Khundzakishvili, and 9 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8824928/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We present comprehensive inelastic neutron spectroscopic maps of the magnetic field-induced disordered phase of the Kitaev quantum spin liquid candidate material α-RuCl 3 . For fields along both in-plane high symmetry directions we observe that the spin excitation spectrum at and above a magnetic field of 8 T is gapped. Excitation modes then sharpen for increasing field but are consistently broader than experimental resolution even at 13.5 T. The out-of-plane dispersion diminishes in the 7-10 T regime, signifying enhanced two-dimensional behavior as the in-plane liquid correlations are established. In this regime, excitations are very broad and largely flat for all accessible energy-momenta, which is kinematically at odds with a magnon-decay picture. By contrast, a continuum of fractionalized excitations naturally yields a broad continuum response, which crucially may be accompanied by sharper modes of bound states of fractionalized excitations. Their damping by the continuum accounts for the observed spectral broadening and field dependence. Our results provide strong evidence for the existence of fractionalized excitations in α-RuCl 3 in a magnetic field. Physical sciences/Materials science/Condensed-matter physics/Quantum fluids and solids Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Magnetic properties and materials Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files RuCl3gapsupplementalv5Submission.pdf Intermediate Field Spin(on) Dynamics in 𝛂-RuCl3 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8824928","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":593481693,"identity":"60d46bfa-188b-4aa5-b130-47b1f342603e","order_by":0,"name":"Arnab 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For fields along both in-plane high symmetry directions we observe that the spin excitation spectrum at and above a magnetic field of 8 T is gapped. Excitation modes then sharpen for increasing field but are consistently broader than experimental resolution even at 13.5 T. The out-of-plane dispersion diminishes in the 7-10 T regime, signifying enhanced two-dimensional behavior as the in-plane liquid correlations are established. In this regime, excitations are very broad and largely flat for all accessible energy-momenta, which is kinematically at odds with a magnon-decay picture. By contrast, a continuum of fractionalized excitations naturally yields a broad continuum response, which crucially may be accompanied by sharper modes of bound states of fractionalized excitations. Their damping by the continuum accounts for the observed spectral broadening and field dependence. Our results provide strong evidence for the existence of fractionalized excitations in α-RuCl\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e in a magnetic field.","manuscriptTitle":"Intermediate-field spin(on) dynamics in α-RuCl₃","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-20 03:35:03","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8824928/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-physics","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"nphys","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Physics](http://www.nature.com/nphys/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Physics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Research","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"aca63362-c886-4b19-9fa4-8970ab2f0f37","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 20th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"decision","content":"revise","date":"2026-05-06T20:07:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"This content is not available.","date":"2026-05-04T18:09:59+00:00","index":3,"fulltext":"This content is not available."}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":63154199,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Condensed-matter physics/Quantum fluids and solids"},{"id":63154200,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Magnetic properties and materials"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-06T20:10:33+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-20 03:35:03","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8824928","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8824928","identity":"rs-8824928","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}