Toward Perfection: Kapellasite, Cu3Zn(OH)6Cl2, a New Model S = 1/2 Kagome Antiferromagnet

Understand

The search for the resonating valence bond (RVB) state continues to underpin many areas of condensed matter research.

• The RVB is made from the dimerisation of spins on different sites into fluctuating singlets, and was proposed by Anderson to be the reference state from which the transition to BCS superconductivity occurs.
• Little is known about the state experimentally, due to the scarcity of model materials.
• Theoretical work has put forward the S = 1/2 kagome antiferromagnet (KAFM) as a good candidate for the realization of the RVB state.