Quetzalcoatlite as a Disorder-Free Platform for Chiral Magnetism and Frustration
Abstract
The natural mineral quetzalcoatlite Zn6Cu3(TeO6)2(OH)6 · (AgxPbyClx+2y) is a structurally ideal kagome magnet, providing a platform for exploring the interplay of geometric frustration, chirality, and tunability in a disorder-free framework. Here, we present the (first) comprehensive ab initio study of its electronic and magnetic properties. The electronic structure is dominated by localized half-filled Cu dx2−y2 orbitals that become insulating through electronic correlations. Mapping the low-energy physics onto a Heisenberg model reveals that the magnetism is governed primarily by two exchange interactions: a nearest-neighbor intralayer kagome coupling and a next-nearest-neighbor interlayer coupling. Their competition stabilizes an unconventional three-dimensional chiral magnetic state. Each kagome layer hosts a √3×√3 order, while adjacent layers are rotated by 60∘, producing a right-handed spiral along the crystallographic c-axis. This intrinsic chiral order emerges naturally from the crystal structure and magnetic interactions, establishing quetzalcoatlite as a distinctive realization of chiral magnetism on a perfect kagome lattice. At the same time, the small energy scale of the exchange interactions places the material close to competing magnetic regimes, suggesting that moderate pressure, chemical substitution, or structural modifications may strongly enhance frustration, suppress long-range order, and potentially drive the system toward a quantum spin-liquid state.
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BibTeX
@misc{razpopov2026quetzalcoatlite,
title = {{Quetzalcoatlite as a Disorder-Free Platform for Chiral Magnetism and Frustration}},
author = {Aleksandar Razpopov and P. Peter Stavropoulos and Felix Flicker and Michael R. Norman and Roser Valentí},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.11301},
eprint = {2608.11301},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11301},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Quetzalcoatlite as a Disorder-Free Platform for Chiral Magnetism and Frustration
AU - Aleksandar Razpopov
AU - P. Peter Stavropoulos
AU - Felix Flicker
AU - Michael R. Norman
AU - Roser Valentí
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/18
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.11301
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11301
AB - The natural mineral quetzalcoatlite Zn_6Cu_3(TeO_6)_2(OH)_6 · (Ag_xPb_yCl_x+2y) is a structurally ideal kagome magnet, providing a platform for exploring the interplay of geometric frustration, chirality, and tunability in a disorder-free framework. Here, we present the (first) comprehensive ab initio study of its electronic and magnetic properties. The electronic structure is dominated by localized half-filled Cu d_x^2−y^2 orbitals that become insulating through electronic correlations. Mapping the low-energy physics onto a Heisenberg model reveals that the magnetism is governed primarily by two exchange interactions: a nearest-neighbor intralayer kagome coupling and a next-nearest-neighbor interlayer coupling. Their competition stabilizes an unconventional three-dimensional chiral magnetic state. Each kagome layer hosts a √3×√3 order, while adjacent layers are rotated by 60^∘, producing a right-handed spiral along the crystallographic c-axis. This intrinsic chiral order emerges naturally from the crystal structure and magnetic interactions, establishing quetzalcoatlite as a distinctive realization of chiral magnetism on a perfect kagome lattice. At the same time, the small energy scale of the exchange interactions places the material close to competing magnetic regimes, suggesting that moderate pressure, chemical substitution, or structural modifications may strongly enhance frustration, suppress long-range order, and potentially drive the system toward a quantum spin-liquid state.
ER -