Possible intermediate quantum spin liquid phase in α-RuCl₃ under high magnetic fields up to 100 T

Pursuing the exotic quantum spin liquid (QSL) state in the Kitaev material α-RuCl₃ has intrigued great research interest recently. A fascinating question is on the possible existence of a field-induced QSL phase in this compound. Here we perform high-field magnetization measurements of α-RuCl₃ up to 102 T employing the non-destructive and destructive pulsed magnets. Under the out-of-plane field along the c* axis (i.e., perpendicular to the honeycomb plane), two quantum phase transitions are uncovered at respectively 35 T and about 83 T, between which lies an intermediate phase as the predicted QSL. This is in sharp contrast to the case with in-plane fields, where a single transition is found at around 7 T and the intermediate QSL phase is absent instead. By measuring the magnetization data with fields tilted from the c* axis up to 90° (i.e., in-plane direction), we obtain the field-angle phase diagram that contains the zigzag, paramagnetic, and QSL phases. Based on the K-J-Γ-[Formula: see text] model for α-RuCl₃ with a large Kitaev term we perform density matrix renormalization group simulations and reproduce the quantum phase diagram in excellent agreement with experiments.