Mermin-Wagner physics, (H,T) phase diagram, and candidate quantum spin-liquid phase in the spin-12 triangular-lattice antiferromagnet Ba8CoNb6O24

Ba8CoNb6O24 presents a system whose Co2+ ions have an effective spin 1/2 and construct a regular triangular-lattice antiferromagnet (TLAFM) with a very large interlayer spacing, ensuring purely two-dimensional character. We exploit this ideal realization to perform a detailed experimental analysis of the S=1/2 TLAFM, which is one of the keystone models in frustrated quantum magnetism. We find strong low-energy spin fluctuations and no magnetic ordering, but a diverging correlation length down to 0.1 K, indicating a Mermin-Wagner trend toward zero-temperature order. Below 0.1 K, however, our low-field measurements show an unexpected magnetically disordered state, which is a candidate quantum spin liquid. We establish the (H,T) phase diagram, mapping in detail the quantum fluctuation corrections to the available theoretical analysis. These include a strong upshift in field of the maximum ordering temperature, qualitative changes to both low- and high-field phase boundaries, and an ordered regime apparently dominated by the collinear “up-up-down” state. Ba8CoNb6O24, therefore, offers fresh input for the development of theoretical approaches to the field-induced quantum phase transitions of the S=1/2 Heisenberg TLAFM.