Localized triplons and site stuffing in the quantum dimer magnet
Phys. Rev. B 112, 224410 – Published 5 December, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/hr81-bw99
Abstract
Thermodynamic and muon spin relaxation measurements have recently highlighted as a new example of a rare-earth-based quantum dimer magnet with isolated spin-1/2 dimers. However, direct spectroscopic evidence of the triplet excitations and measurements of the structural disorder are lacking. In this work, polycrystalline was synthesized using conventional high-temperature solid-state methods and investigated via high-resolution neutron powder diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering. Diffraction measurements down to 58 mK reveal no signatures of magnetic order and indicate that nearly 20% of sites are replaced by nonmagnetic , introducing significant structural disorder. Inelastic neutron scattering shows dispersionless triplon excitations, consistent with localized, noninteracting spin dimers. Fits to the triplet excitation spectrum with an XXZ-type anisotropic exchange give and . These findings establish as a structurally disordered but magnetically well-isolated quantum dimer system, providing a model platform for studying the resilience of entangled spin states to site dilution.