Spinon mediation of witness spin dynamics in herbertsmithite

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dc.contributor.authorTakahashi, Hiroto
dc.contributor.authorMurphy, Jack
dc.contributor.authorWood-Thanan, Mitikorn
dc.contributor.authorPuphal, Pascal
dc.contributor.authorSánchez-Martínez, Miguel Ángel
dc.contributor.authorJerzembeck, Fabian
dc.contributor.authorHsu, Chun Chih
dc.contributor.authorWard, Jonathan
dc.contributor.authorIsobe, Masahiko
dc.contributor.authorMatsumoto, Yosuke
dc.contributor.authorTakagi, Hidenori
dc.contributor.authorBlundell, Stephen J.
dc.contributor.authorNorman, Michael R.
dc.contributor.authorFlicker, Felix
dc.contributor.authorDavis, J. C.Séamus
dc.contributor.funderUK Research and Innovation
dc.contributor.funderEuropean Research Council
dc.contributor.funderGordon and Betty Moore Foundation
dc.contributor.funderRoyal Society
dc.contributor.funderScience Foundation Ireland(SFI)
dc.date.accessioned2026-09-11T14:46:01Z
dc.date.available2026-09-11T14:46:01Z
dc.date.issued2026-06-10
dc.description.abstractThe kagome lattice of spin-1/2 copper atoms in herbertsmithite is conjectured to sustain a quantum spin liquid state with spinon quasiparticles. Ideally, the kagome crystal planes are each separated by a plane of spinless zinc atoms. However, in real crystals, some spin-1/2 copper atoms substitute randomly onto these inter-kagome zinc sites. Here we reconceptualize such ‘impurity’ atoms as quantum witness spins whose dynamics is designed to probe the spin liquid state. We then introduce spin noise spectroscopy to measure the frequency and temperature dependence of witness spin dynamics, demonstrating that their phenomenology is consistent with extensive interactions between witness spins mediated by propagation of spinons through a quantum spin liquid. Ultimately, a sharp transition occurs at around 260 mK, below which the properties of both spin noise and magnetic susceptibility suggest that the witness spins form a spin glass phase. Among the theoretical models considered, we demonstrate that our observations are only consistent with spinon-mediated interactions between witness spins by either a Z2 or U(1) quantum spin liquid, with the former model more closely matching the data. Our work demonstrates that quantum mechanical witness spins may now conceivably be used as a widely applicable probe of quantum spin liquid physics.en
dc.description.sponsorshipUK Research and Innovation|EP/X025861/1
dc.description.sponsorshipEuropean Research Counci|DLV-788932
dc.description.sponsorshipGordon and Betty Moore Foundation|GBMF9457
dc.description.sponsorshipRoyal Society|R64897
dc.description.sponsorshipRoyal Society|RSRP\R25\1002
dc.description.sponsorshipScience Foundation Ireland|SFI 17/RP/5445
dc.description.sponsorshipScience Foundation Ireland|25/RP-2TF/13559
dc.description.versionPublished Version
dc.format.extent8
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.authororcidTakahashi, Hiroto
dc.identifier.authororcidMurphy, Jack
dc.identifier.authororcidWood-Thanan, Mitikorn
dc.identifier.authororcidPuphal, Pascal
dc.identifier.authororcidSánchez-Martínez, Miguel Ángel
dc.identifier.authororcidJerzembeck, Fabian
dc.identifier.authororcidHsu, Chun Chih
dc.identifier.authororcidWard, Jonathan
dc.identifier.authororcidIsobe, Masahiko
dc.identifier.authororcidMatsumoto, Yosuke
dc.identifier.authororcidTakagi, Hidenori
dc.identifier.authororcidBlundell, Stephen J.
dc.identifier.authororcidNorman, Michael R.
dc.identifier.authororcidFlicker, Felix
dc.identifier.authororcidDavis, J. C.Séamus
dc.identifier.citationTakahashi, H, Murphy, J, Wood-Thanan, M, Puphal, P, Sánchez-Martínez, M Á, Jerzembeck, F, Hsu, C C, Ward, J, Isobe, M, Matsumoto, Y, Takagi, H, Blundell, S J, Norman, M R, Flicker, F & Davis, J C S 2026, 'Spinon mediation of witness spin dynamics in herbertsmithite', Nature Physics, vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 1071-1078. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03303-6
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41567-026-03303-6
dc.identifier.endpage1078
dc.identifier.issn1745-2473
dc.identifier.issued7
dc.identifier.journaltitleNature Physics
dc.identifier.startpage1071
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/19242
dc.identifier.volume22
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherNature Research
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105041363746
dc.rights© 2026, The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.accessrightsopen access
dc.rights.licensenameAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.statusPeer reviewed
dc.subjectKagome lattice
dc.subjectSpin-1/2 copper atoms
dc.subjectSpinon mediation
dc.subjectSpin dynamics
dc.subjectHerbertsmithite
dc.subject[Physics]
dc.titleSpinon mediation of witness spin dynamics in herbertsmithiteen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)
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