Raman scattering signatures of spinons and triplons in frustrated antiferromagnets

Abstract

Magnetically frustrated spin systems compose a significant proportion of topological quantum spin liquid candidates. Evidence for spin liquids in these materials comes largely from the detection of fractionalised spin-1/2 quasiparticles, known as spinons. However, the one-dimensional Heisenberg chain, which is topologically trivial, also hosts spinons. Thus, observing spinons does not necessarily signify long-range entanglement. Here, we show that spinons arising from one-dimensional physics leave a clear fingerprint in magnetic Raman scattering. We achieve this by calculating the magnetic Raman intensity of coupled Heisenberg chains. Our findings are in excellent agreement with the magnetic Raman scattering measurements on the anisotropic triangular antiferromagnet Ca$_3$ReO$_5$Cl$_2$.