Abstract: In the search for realizations of Quantum Spin Liquids (QSL), it is essential to understand the interplay between inherent structural disorder and long-range spin entanglement. H3LiIr2O6 is regarded as a spin liquid proximal to the Kitaev-limit in which bond disorder and stacking faults are known to be present. These sources of random disorder have been invoked to account for the non-zero NMR relaxation rate and divergent specific heat, which are not expected within the Kitaev QSL model. As such, the nature of H3LiIr2O6 remains unknown. Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is the only technique able to resolve the magnetic excitations in iridium base Kitaev materials and is amenable to being extended into the time domain.
In this talk, I will show that a broad bandwidth and momentum-independent continuum of magnetic excitations characterize the low-temperature low-energy excitations in H3LiIr2O6. Our data support an interpretation of H3LiIr2O6 as a disordered topological spin liquid in close proximity to bond-disordered versions of the KQSL. I will also discuss preliminary time-resolved RIXS data in the context of Floquet engineering of magnetic exchange in Kitaev materials.
Bio: Alberto de la Torre graduated from the University of Geneva where he became an expert in photoemission spectroscopy. Alberto is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at Brown University, where he uses resonant x-ray spectroscopy to probe quantum materials. Previously, he was a Swiss National Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Caltech, where he studied out-of-equilibrium photoinduced phase transitions. He will be joining the Quantum Institute at Northeastern University this June, where he will be combining these experiences to harness the properties of quantum materials using ultrafast light-matter interaction.