Proving the Kitaev Ground State Doublet in Honeycomb SmI3

We propose to confirm the crystal field level spacing in Kitaev candidate SmI3. Unlike other rare earth halides on the honeycomb lattice, Sm presents the first possibility for a Gamma-7 doublet, leading to an effective spin-1/2 model consistent with the Kitaev model. Confirming the level scheme is an extremely important step in modeling the ground state of the system. We will overcome the challenges of Sm absorption issues based on our experience with other Sm-based materials, specifically by constructing an array of thin single crystals on a Si wafer.