Heat transport of the kagome Heisenberg quantum spin liquid candidate YCu3(OH)6.5Br2.5 : Localized magnetic excitations and a putative spin gap

Abstract

The spin-1/2 kagom\'{e} Heisenberg antiferromagnet is generally accepted as one of the most promising two-dimensional models to realize a quantum spin liquid state. Previous experimental efforts were almost exclusively on only one archetypal material, the herbertsmithite ZnCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Cl$_2$, which unfortunately suffers from the notorious orphan spins problem caused by magnetic disorders. Here we turn to YCu$_3$(OH)$_{6.5}$Br$_{2.5}$, recently recognized as another host of a globally undistorted kagom\'{e} Cu$^{2+}$ lattice free from the orphan spins, thus a more feasible system for studying the intrinsic kagom\'{e} quantum spin liquid physics. Our high-resolution low-temperature thermal conductivity measurements yield a vanishing small residual linear term of $\kappa/T$ ($T\rightarrow 0$), and thus clearly rule out itinerant gapless fermionic excitations. Unusual scattering of phonons grows exponentially with temperature, suggesting thermally activated phonon-spin scattering and hence a gapped magnetic excitation, consistent with a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ quantum spin liquid ground state. Additionally, the analysis of magnetic field impact on the thermal conductivity reveals a field closing of the spin gap, while the excitations remain localized.