Spin excitations in nanographene-based antiferromagnetic spin-½ Heisenberg chains

DOI

Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains exhibit two distinct types of excitation spectra: gapped for integer-spin chains and gapless for half-integer-spin chains. However, in finite-length half-integer-spin chains, quantization induces a gap, requiring precise control over sufficiently long chains to study its evolution. In a recent publication, we created length-controlled spin-1/2 Heisenberg chains by covalently linking olympicenes—Olympic ring-shaped magnetic nanographenes. With large exchange interactions, tunable lengths, and negligible magnetic anisotropy, this system is ideal for investigating length-dependent spin excitations, probed via inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy. We observe a power-law decay of the lowest excitation energy with length L, following a 1/L dependence in the large-L regime, consistent with theory. For L=50, a V-shaped excitation continuum confirms gapless behavior in the thermodynamic limit. Additionally, low-bias current maps reveal the standing wave of a single spinon in odd-numbered chains. Our findings provide evidence for the realization of a one-dimensional analog of a gapless spin liquid within an artificial graphene lattice. This record includes all the data that support the results discussed in the publication.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.24435/materialscloud:zx-87
Related Identifier https://renkulab.io/projects/new?data=eyJ0aXRsZSI6ICJNYXRlcmlhbHMgQ2xvdWQgQXJjaGl2ZSAtIGd3LmFpaWRhIiwgInVybCI6ICJodHRwczovL2dpdGh1Yi5jb20vU3dpc3NEYXRhU2NpZW5jZUNlbnRlci9jb250cmlidXRlZC1wcm9qZWN0LXRlbXBsYXRlcyIsICJyZWYiOiAibWFpbiIsICJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ICJDdXN0b20vYWlpZGEiLCAidmFyaWFibGVzIjogeyJkZXNjcmlwdGlvbiI6ICJFeHBsb3JpbmcgQWlpREEgYXJjaGl2ZSBmaWxlIGBndy5haWlkYWAgb2YgcmVjb3JkIFtkb2k6eydjbGllbnQnOiAnZGF0YWNpdGUnLCAncHJvdmlkZXInOiAnZGF0YWNpdGUnLCAnaWRlbnRpZmllcic6ICcxMC4yNDQzNS9tYXRlcmlhbHNjbG91ZDp6eC04Nyd9XShodHRwczovL2RvaS5vcmcveydjbGllbnQnOiAnZGF0YWNpdGUnLCAncHJvdmlkZXInOiAnZGF0YWNpdGUnLCAnaWRlbnRpZmllcic6ICcxMC4yNDQzNS9tYXRlcmlhbHNjbG91ZDp6eC04Nyd9KSIsICJhcmNoaXZlX3VybCI6ICJodHRwczovLzEyNy4wLjAuMS9hcGkvcmVjb3Jkcy9ieXF5cC1leWg2Mi9maWxlcy9ndy5haWlkYS9jb250ZW50P3JlY29yZF9pZD1ieXF5cC1leWg2MiZmaWxlX2lkPTZlZmE4NDU4LThjYTItNDhmYS1hMjg5LTg3MmMwMjU4YmYxNyZmaWxlbmFtZT1ndy5haWlkYSJ9fQ==
Related Identifier https://archive.materialscloud.org/communities/mcarchive
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.24435/materialscloud:9z-1f
Metadata Access https://archive.materialscloud.org/oai2d?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&identifier=oai:materialscloud.org:2348
Provenance
Creator Zhao, Chenxiao; Yang, Lin; Henriques, João; Ferri-Cortés, Mar; Catarina, Gonçalo; Pignedoli, Carlo A.; Ma, Ji; Feng, Xinliang; Ruffieux, Pascal; Rossier, Joaquín; Fasel, Roman
Publisher Materials Cloud
Contributor Zhao, Chenxiao; Feng, Xinliang; Ruffieux, Pascal; Rossier, Joaquín; Fasel, Roman
Publication Year 2025
Rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess; Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
OpenAccess true
Contact archive(at)materialscloud.org
Representation
Language English
Resource Type info:eu-repo/semantics/other
Format application/octet-stream; application/gzip; text/markdown
Discipline Materials Science and Engineering