Gapless Spin Excitations in the Field-Induced Quantum Spin Liquid Phase of alpha-RuCl3

Understand

$\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ is a leading candidate material for theobservation of physics related to the Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL).

• By combined susceptibility, specific-heat, and nuclear-magnetic-resonance measurements, we demonstrate that $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ undergoes a quantum phase transition to a QSL in a magnetic field of 7.5 T applied in the $ab$ plane.
• We show further that this high-field QSL phase has gapless spin excitations over a field range up to 16 T.
• This highly unconventional result, unknown in either Heisenberg or Kitaev magnets, offers insight essential to establishing the physics of $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$.