Electronic density of states of aU(1)quantum spin liquid with spinon Fermi surface. I. Orbital magnetic field effects

Abstract

The authors study the orbital magnetic field induced Landau quantization of a quantum spin liquid with spinon Fermi surface. In the electronic density of states of the quantum spin liquid, the Landau quantization is found to induce a set of band-edge steps, band-edge resonance peaks, or in-gap bound states when the gauge-field fluctuations are negligible, weak, or strong, respectively. The results indicate that the Landau quantization of the spinon Fermi surface can be detected through scanning tunneling microscope measurements.