No abstract

No abstract

We have performed 63Cu-nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) measurements using a lump sample of the Yb zigzag-chain compound YbCuS2 with a small surface area to investigate the sample dependence of low-temperature magnetic properties in YbCuS2 by comparing with the previous study with different powdered sample. The line width of NQR signals in the present lump sample is larger than that in the previous powdered sample. In addition, the transition temperature T N ∼ 0.92 K in the present lump sample is lower than that in the previous powdered sample (∼ 0.95 K). These results suggest that the quality of the present lump sample is worse than that of the previous powdered sample. However, the T-linear behavior of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 was observed below 0.5 K and the value of 1/T 1 T in both samples is almost the same even though the sample quality and sample geometry are different. This suggests that T-linear behavior in 1/T 1 arises from the impurity-robust bulk gapless excitation inherent in YbCuS2 rather than from sample issues such as the sample quality or geometry.

In an antiferromagnetic zigzag chain, competition between the nearest and next-nearest neighbor interactions could give rise to magnetic frustration. Magnetic semiconductors RAgSe2 (R = Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb) crystallize in the ErAgSe2-type orthorhombic structure, where the R ions form a zigzag chain along the orthorhombic a-axis. The magnetic susceptibility data for all the samples follow the Curie-Weiss law between 40 and 300 K. The values of the effective magnetic moment μ βα are close to those expected for the free R 3+ ions. Negative values of the paramagnetic Curie temperature θρ indicate antiferromagnetic interactions. For R = Ho and Tm, the specific heat C(T) data exhibit no anomaly down to 0.4 K, which is ascribed to the nonmagnetic singlet ground states under the crystalline electric fields. On the other hand, for R = Er, C(T) shows peaks at T 1 = 1.3 K and T2 = 0.9 K, indicating successive antiferromagnetic transitions. For R = Yb, C(T) shows a lambda-type anomaly at T m = 1.8 K. The magnetic entropy at T m is only 30% of Rln2 expected for the ground state doublet, suggesting magnetic fluctuations above T m.

The emergence of charge-neutral fermionic excitations in magnetic systems is one of the unresolved issues in recent condensed matter physics. This type of excitations has been observed in various systems, such as low-dimensional quantum spin liquids, Kondo insulators, and antiferromagnetic insulators. Here, we report the presence of a pronounced gapless spin excitation in the low-temperature antiferromagnetic state of YbCuS2 semiconductor, where trivalent ytterbium atoms form a zigzag chain structure. We confirm the presence of this gapless excitations by a combination of experimental probes, namely 63/65Cu-nuclear magnetic resonance and nuclear quadrupole resonance, as well as specific heat measurements, revealing a linear low-temperature behavior of both the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 and the specific heat. This system provides a platform to investigate the origin of gapless excitations in spin chains and the relationship between emergent fermionic excitations and frustration.