Classification of quantum phases for the star-lattice antiferromagnet via a projective symmetry group analysis

Abstract

We study possible quantum ground states of the Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the star lattice, which may be realized in the recently discovered polymeric iron acetate, ${\text{Fe}}_{3}({\ensuremath{\mu}}_{3}\text{-O}){(\ensuremath{\mu}\text{-OAc})}_{6}{({\text{H}}_{2}\text{O})}_{3}{[{\text{Fe}}_{3}({\ensuremath{\mu}}_{3}\text{-O}){(\ensuremath{\mu}\text{-OAc})}_{7.5}]}_{2}\ensuremath{\cdot}7{\text{H}}_{2}\text{O}$ [Y. Z. Zheng et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 46, 6076 (2007)]. Even though the ${\text{Fe}}^{\text{III}}$ moment in this material carries spin-5/2 and the system eventually orders magnetically at low temperatures, the magnetic ordering temperature is much lower than the estimated Curie-Weiss temperature, revealing the frustrated nature of the spin interactions. Anticipating that a lower spin analog of this material may be synthesized in future, we investigate the effect of quantum fluctuations on the star-lattice antiferromagnet using a large-$N$ $\text{Sp}(N)$ mean field theory and a projective symmetry group analysis for possible bosonic quantum spin liquid phases. It is found that there exist only two distinct gapped ${Z}_{2}$ spin liquid phases with bosonic spinons for nonvanishing nearest-neighbor valence-bond amplitudes. In particular, the spin liquid phase which has a lower energy in the nearest-neighbor exchange model can be stabilized for relatively higher spin magnitudes. Hence, it is perhaps a better candidate for the realization of quantum spin liquid state. We also determine the magnetic ordering patterns resulting from the condensation of the bosonic spinons in the two different spin liquid phases. We expect these magnetic ordering patterns would directly be relevant for the low temperature ordered phase of the iron acetate. The phase diagram containing all of these phases and various dimerized states are obtained for the nearest-neighbor exchange model and its implications are discussed.