Also called RuCl₃, Kitaev magnet
The best-studied candidate for a Kitaev quantum spin liquid: a state in which magnetic moments never settle into an ordered pattern, even at absolute zero, and which theory predicts should carry exotic excitations called Majorana fermions. In α-RuCl3 the spins do order, but only below about 7 K, and a magnetic field of about 8 T in the plane of the layers removes that order. What happens above that field is one of the most argued-about questions in condensed-matter physics. The layers peel apart like graphite, and a sheet laid on graphene pulls electrons out of it.
They are coordination polyhedra. Only complete ones are drawn.
Three layers of α-RuCl3 in the monoclinic C2/m stacking found at 60 K. Each layer slides by a third of a against the one below, so c leans away from the layers (β = 108.8°): 5.69 Å between layers. How the layers stack is what varies most between α-RuCl3 crystals: stacking faults are common, and other studies report a rhombohedral stacking at low temperature. Cell at 60 K from Cao and colleagues, Physical Review B 93, 134423 (2016).
Readiness runs lab → prototype → pilot → deployed.
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The working model is the extended Kitaev–Heisenberg–Γ model on the honeycomb lattice, with Ru3+ in a j_eff = 1/2 state. Published parameter sets disagree widely: a ferromagnetic Kitaev term of several to over 20 meV, an off-diagonal Γ term of comparable size, and a third-neighbour Heisenberg term needed to stabilise zigzag order. Interpreting the thermal Hall data means distinguishing Majorana edge modes from topological magnons, and that question is not settled.
Sample quality decides the result: check for a single transition near 7 K in specific heat or susceptibility, since stacking faults add one near 14 K. Thermal Hall and thermal-conductivity results have varied between crystal batches, so compare samples from more than one growth. On graphene, the charge transfer shows up as a strongly shifted Dirac point in transport and as plasmons at the interface.
No application is in sight: the interesting states exist only below about 10 K and in fields of several tesla. The practical property is its strong charge transfer, a clean way to dope graphene heavily without chemicals.
The newest items tagged α-RuCl3, from the news feed updated 5 Oct 2026.
We investigate Majorana current induced by charge current in Kitaev magnets coupled with graphene through the mechanism by which Majorana fermions in the Kitaev magnet are dragged by electrons in graphene. We calculate Majorana current density based on the perturbation with respect to a Kondo-type M… [Phys. Rev. B 114…
We investigate Majorana current induced by charge current in Kitaev magnets coupled with graphene through the mechanism by which Majorana fermions in the Kitaev magnet are dragged by electrons in graphene. We calculate Majorana current density based on the perturbation with respect to a Kondo type Majorana-electron…
The bond-dependent anisotropic Kitaev interactions are the key for the Kitaev model, which has attracted intense interest for its potential to host quantum-spin-liquid states and fractional excitations. However, experimental realizations of such interactions remain scarce. Here, we investigate the magnetic excitations…
The Kitaev honeycomb model has attracted significant interest due to its quantum spin liquid ground state, fractionalized Majorana excitations, and topological properties. Motivated by these features, we introduce a quasi-one-dimensional Kitaev-like spin chain derived from a truncated honeycomb geometry. The resulting…
The small-gap room-temperature semiconductor a-RuCl3, which is known to undergo a Mott-Hubbard transition at low temperatures, is one of the most promising candidates for realisation of an exotic matter form, the quantum spin liquid state, which may have applications in quantum computing. Although extensively…
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