Fractionalized Spin Excitation in the B-site mixed Ce2ScNbO7 Pyrochlore

A quantum spin liquid (QSL) is a state of matter where unpaired electrons’ spins, although entangled, do not show magnetic order even at zero temperature. A continuum of fractionalized excitations from the inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments is the hallmark of a QSL at a very low temperature. The ground state of earlier QSL candidates like ZnCu3(OD)6Cl2 and YbMgGaO4 has been complicated by the presence of disorder. Ce2Zr2O7 is a rare example of a QSL candidate that is free of disorder, examined by all sorts of measurements, and the (INS) experiments found a continuum of fractionalized excitations. We made a new compound Ce2ScNbO7, which has the same structure but random distribution of Sc3+ and Nb5+ on the B-site. We propose to perform INS to figure out whether the fractionalized spinon excitations are robust against the B-site disorder in Ce2ScNbO7.