Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 26, 2026

Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Published on: March 24, 2019
Chiral Spin Liquid on a Kagome Antiferromagnet Induced by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction
Laura Messio1, Samuel Bieri2, Claire Lhuillier1
1Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de la Matière Condensée, CNRS UMR 7600, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Sorbonne Universités, 75252 Paris, France.
Abstract:
The quantum spin liquid material herbertsmithite is described by an antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice with a non-negligible Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). A well-established phase transition to the q=0 long-range order occurs in this model when the DMI strength increases, but the precise nature of a small-DMI phase remains controversial. Here, we describe a new phase obtained from Schwinger-boson mean-field theory that is stable at small DMI, and which can explain the dispersionless spectrum seen in the inelastic neutron scattering experiment by Han et al. [Nature (London) 492, 406 (2012)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/nature11659]. It is a time-reversal symmetry breaking Z_{2} spin liquid, with the unique property of a small and constant spin gap in an extended region of the Brillouin zone. The phase diagram as a function of DMI and spin size is given, and dynamical spin structure factors are presented.
Related Concept Videos
Valence Bond Theory
Spin–Spin Coupling: One-Bond Coupling
Spin–Spin Coupling Constant: Overview
Qualitatively, any spin plus-half nucleus polarizes the spins of its electrons to the minus-half state. Consequently, the paired electron in the hydrogen–carbon bond must...
Spin–Spin Coupling: Two-Bond Coupling (Geminal Coupling)
The central atom need not be NMR-active because its electrons are affected by the electron polarization of the spin-active atoms. However, spin information is transmitted less effectively than in one-bond coupling, and 2J values are usually weaker than 1J values. The energy of...
NMR Spectroscopy: Spin–Spin Coupling
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...

