Understanding of Quantum Spin Liquid in a natural mineral Henmilite

Natural minerals have become a playground for exploring exotic quantum states such as quantum spin liquid, pure Kitaev physics etc. In many cases, when the recipe of crystal growth is not known, natural specimens remain the only option for investigating these unusual lattices. Henmilite is a new mineral which has been suggested to consist of coupled spin two-leg ladders, where strong quantum fluctuations suppress long-range order at low temperatures. Our recent MuSR experiment revealed a QSL phase at zero field while the specific heat experiment questions the magnetic coupled two-leg ladder structure story. Therefore, we want to investigate the spin structure under an external magnetic field in order to elucidate the underlying mechanisms responsible for the suggested quantum spin liquid behaviour through a neutron diffraction experiment at WISH using a dilution refrigerator.