Inelastic Neutron Scattering of The Spin-Liquid Candidate Ba₃ZnRu₂O₉ and Diluted Ba₃Zn(Ru_0.1Sb_0.9)₂O₉

Ba₃ZnRu₂O₉ (BZRO) is a 6-H perovskite compound with layers of S=3/2 Ru⁵⁺ dimers arranged in a triangular lattice. There is no evidence of long-range magnetic order at temperatures as low as 37 mK, which suggests a potential spin-liquid ground-state.[1] Inelastic neutron scattering results are presented from from BZRO (powder, crystal arrays) and the diamagnetically doped Ba₃Zn(Ru_0.1Sb_0.9)2O₉. The BZRO shows highly dispersive excitations with no magnetic Bragg peaks. So, contrary to prior suggestions that a similar compound, Ba₃CaRu₂O₉, consists of magnetic dimers with negligible inter-dimer interactions,[2] these data show that BZRO clearly deviates from a dimer model. Different analysis techniques of the correlations are illustrated, including coarse-graining the system so that dimers are local entangled units.<br/><br/>[1] I. Terasaki, et al., J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 86, 033702 (2017) [4 Pages]<br/><br/>[2] J. Darriet, et al., J. Phys. Chem. Solids 44 (1983) pp. 269-212.