Observation of single antiferromagnetic magnon modes through tunneling spectroscopy of spin-1/2 Kitaev system α-RuCl3

Abstract

The small-gap room-temperature semiconductor α-RuCl3, which is known to undergo a Mott-Hubbard transition at low temperatures, is one of the most promising candidates for realization of an exotic matter form, the quantum spin liquid state, which may have applications in quantum computing. Although extensively investigated by neutron scattering techniques, electronic study of this system in the form of van der Waals heterostructures has been limited mainly to graphene proximity. Here, we report a systematic study of planar and tunneling electronic properties of α-RuCl3 films, where we observe an n-type field effect on α-RuCl3 films at room temperature, with a Mott insulator nature onset below 120 K. For films of three-layer thickness and below, we find inelastic scattering features below the Néel temperature of 7–14.5 K, which we attribute to single-magnon modes. Our study confirms preserved low-temperature signatures of the zigzag antiferromagnetic order in the atomically thin limit and its single-magnon modes within the continuum through tunneling spectroscopy.