Possible Dirac quantum spin liquid in a kagome quantum antiferromagnet YCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Br$_2$[Br$_{x}$(OH)$_{1-x}$]

Abstract

We studied the magnetic properties of YCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Br$_2$[Br$_{1-x}$(OH)$_{x}$] ($x$ = 0.33), where Cu$^{2+}$ ions form two-dimensional kagome layers. There is no magnetic order down to 50 mK while the Curie-Weiss temperature is on the order of -100 K. At zero magnetic field, the low-temperature specific heat shows a $T^2$ dependence. Above 2 T, a linear temperature dependence term in specific heat emerges, and the value of $\gamma = C/T$ increases linearly with the field. Furthermore, the magnetic susceptibility tends to a constant value at $T = 0$. Our results suggest that the magnetic ground state of YCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Br$_2$[Br$_{1-x}$(OH)$_{x}$] is consistent with a Dirac quantum-spin-liquid state with a linearly dispersing spinon strongly coupled to an emergent gauge field, which has long been theoretically proposed as a candidate ground state in the two-dimensional kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnetic system.