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1. Directly imaging spin polarons in a kinetically frustrated Hubbard system

   Prichard, Max; Spar, B; Morera, I; Demler, E; Yan, Z; Bakr, W (May 2024, Nature)

   The emergence of quasiparticles in quantum many-body systems underlies the rich phenomenology in many strongly interacting materials. In the context of doped Mott insulators, magnetic polarons are quasiparticles that usually arise from an interplay between the kinetic energy of doped charge carriers and superexchange spin interactions. However, in kinetically frustrated lattices, itinerant spin polarons—bound states of a dopant and a spin flip—have been theoretically predicted even in the absence of superexchange coupling. Despite their important role in the theory of kinetic magnetism, a microscopic observation of these polarons is lacking. Here we directly image itinerant spin polarons in a triangular-lattice Hubbard system realized with ultracold atoms, revealing enhanced antiferromagnetic correlations in the local environment of a hole dopant. In contrast, around a charge dopant, we find ferromagnetic correlations, a manifestation of the elusive Nagaoka effect. We study the evolution of these correlations with interactions and doping, and use higher-order correlation functions to further elucidate the relative contributions of superexchange and kinetic mechanisms. The robustness of itinerant spin polarons at high temperature paves the way for exploring potential mechanisms for hole pairing and superconductivity in frustrated systems. Furthermore, our work provides microscopic insights into related phenomena in triangular-lattice moiré materials. 

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2. Long-lifetime spin excitations near domain walls in 1T-TaS ₂

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2121740119  

   Aishwarya, Anuva; Raghavan, Arjun; Howard, Sean; Cai, Zhuozhen; Thakur, Gohil S.; Won, Choongjae; Cheong, Sang-Wook; Felser, Claudia; Madhavan, Vidya (May 2022, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   Spin chains in solid state materials are quintessential quantum systems with potential applications in spin-based logic, memory, quantum communication, and computation. A critical challenge is the experimental determination of spin lifetimes with the ultimate goal of increasing it. Local measurements by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) have demonstrated the importance of decoupling spins from their environment, with markedly improved lifetimes in spin chains on the surfaces of band insulators. In this work we use low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy to reveal long-lifetime excitations in a chain of spin-1/2 electrons embedded in a charge density wave Mott insulator, 1T-TaS 2 . Naturally occurring domain walls trap chains of localized spin-1/2 electrons in nearby sites, whose energies lie inside the Mott gap. Spin-polarized measurements on these sites show distinct two-level switching noise, as well as negative differential resistance in the dI/dV spectra, typically associated with spin fluctuations. The excitations show exceptionally long lifetimes of a few seconds at 300 mK. Our work suggests that layered Mott insulators in the chalcogenide family, which are amenable to exfoliation and lithography, may provide a viable platform for quantum applications. 

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3. Probing topological spin liquids on a programmable quantum simulator

   https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi8794  

   Semeghini, G.; Levine, H.; Keesling, A.; Ebadi, S.; Wang, T. T.; Bluvstein, D.; Verresen, R.; Pichler, H.; Kalinowski, M.; Samajdar, R.; et al (December 2021, Science)

   Quantum spin liquids, exotic phases of matter with topological order, have been a major focus in physics for the past several decades. Such phases feature long-range quantum entanglement that can potentially be exploited to realize robust quantum computation. We used a 219-atom programmable quantum simulator to probe quantum spin liquid states. In our approach, arrays of atoms were placed on the links of a kagome lattice, and evolution under Rydberg blockade created frustrated quantum states with no local order. The onset of a quantum spin liquid phase of the paradigmatic toric code type was detected by using topological string operators that provide direct signatures of topological order and quantum correlations. Our observations enable the controlled experimental exploration of topological matter and protected quantum information processing. 

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4. Quantum states and intertwining phases in kagome materials

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-023-00635-7  

   Wang, Yaojia; Wu, Heng; McCandless, Gregory T.; Chan, Julia Y.; Ali, Mazhar N. (September 2023, Nature Reviews Physics)

   In solid materials, non-trivial topological states, electron correlations and magnetism are central ingredients for realizing quantum properties, including unconventional superconductivity, charge and spin density waves and quantum spin liquids. The kagome lattice, made up of cornersharing triangles, can host these three ingredients simultaneously and has proved to be a fertile platform for studying diverse quantum phenomena including those stemming from the interplay of these ingredients. This Review introduces the fundamental properties of the kagome lattice and discusses the complex phenomena observed in several materials systems, including the intertwining of charge order and superconductivity in some kagome metals, the modulation of magnetism and topology in some kagome magnets, and the combination of symmetry breaking and Mott physics in ‘breathing’ kagome insulators. The Review also highlights open questions in the field and future research directions in kagome systems. 

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5. Quantum liquid from strange frustration in the trimer magnet Ba4Ir3O10

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-020-0232-6  

   Cao, Gang; Zheng, Hao; Zhao, Hengdi; Ni, Yifei; Pocs, Christopher A.; Zhang, Yu; Ye, Feng; Hoffmann, Christina; Wang, Xiaoping; Lee, Minhyea; et al (May 2020, npj Quantum Materials)

   Abstract Quantum spin systems such as magnetic insulators usually show magnetic order, but such classical states can give way toquantum liquids with exotic entanglementthrough two known mechanisms of frustration: geometric frustration in lattices with triangle motifs, and spin-orbit-coupling frustration in the exactly solvable quantum liquid of Kitaev’s honeycomb lattice. Here we present the experimental observation of a new kind of frustrated quantum liquid arising in an unlikely place: the magnetic insulator Ba₄Ir₃O₁₀where Ir₃O₁₂trimers form an unfrustrated square lattice. The crystal structure shows no apparent spin chains. Experimentally we find a quantum liquid state persisting down to 0.2 K that is stabilized by strong antiferromagnetic interaction with Curie–Weiss temperature ranging from −766 to −169 K due to magnetic anisotropy. The anisotropy-averaged frustration parameter is 2000, seldom seen in iridates. Heat capacity and thermal conductivity are both linear at low temperatures, a familiar feature in metals but here in an insulator pointing to an exotic quantum liquid state; a mere 2% Sr substitution for Ba produces long-range order at 130 K and destroys the linear-T features. Although the Ir⁴⁺(5d⁵) ions in Ba₄Ir₃O₁₀appear to form Ir₃O₁₂trimers of face-sharing IrO₆octahedra, we propose that intra-trimer exchange is reduced and the lattice recombines into an array of coupled 1D chains with additional spins. An extreme limit of decoupled 1D chains can explain most but not all of the striking experimental observations, indicating that the inter-chain coupling plays an important role in the frustration mechanism leading to this quantum liquid. 

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