Research: Quantum disordered ground state resilient to chemical disorder

Chemical disorder typically destabilizes quantum spin liquids, yet some frustrated magnets resist this effect. Here, the authors study Ba₄Nb_0.8Ir_3.2O₁₂ (BNIO) revealing a quantum disordered state with low-energy excitations and preserved magnetic frustration despite chemical randomness, suggesting a mechanism for disorder-resilient quantum magnetism in 5d triangular-lattice iridates.

The estimated exchange couplings quantify this frustration and point to a delicate balance between competing interactions that likely contributes to the suppression of magnetic order. More broadly, BNIO suggests that symmetry-constrained disorder can provide a route to frustrated, quantum-disordered magnetism in real materials.

O. K. Forslund, G. S. Thakur, S. Gayen, D. Das, Z. Guguchia, R. J. Scheuermann, E. Osmic, T. Gottschall, I. Skourski, J. Gronemann, T. Herrmannsdörfer, S. Samanta, A. Bandyopadhyay, D. T. Adroja, J. Wosnitza, S. K. Panda, S. Chattopadhyay,
Quantum disordered ground state resilient to chemical disorder in a triangular-lattice iridate,
Commun. Mater. 7, 166 (2026)