- By:
- Nguyen, Loi; Straus, Daniel; Zhang, Qiang ; Cava, Robert
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review Materials
- Page Number:
- 34419
- Volume:
- 5
- Issue Number:
- 3
- Publication Date:
- April 15, 2021
- View DOI Listing:
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.034419
Abstract
We report the synthesis and initial characterization of Ba6Y2Rh2Ti2O17−δ, a previously unreported material, to the best of our knowledge, with a hexagonal symmetry structure. Face-sharing RhO6 octahedra form triangular planes of Rh2O9 dimers that are widely separated in the perpendicular direction. The material displays a small effective magnetic moment, due to the Rh ions present, and a negative Curie-Weiss temperature. The charge transport and optical band gaps are very similar, near 0.16 eV. A large upturn in the heat capacity at temperatures below 1 K, suppressed by applied magnetic fields larger than μ0H=2T, is observed. A large T-linear term in the specific heat (γ=166mJ/molf.uK2) is seen, although the material is insulating at low temperatures. These results suggest the possibility of a spin liquid ground state in this material.