Structural Refinement of Potential Quantum Spin Liquid Li₂RhO₃ via Neutron Diffraction

Interest in Kitaev materials stems from their potential to realize a quantum spin liquid ground state with Majorana-Fermion excitations that follow non-Abelian statistics useful for quantum computing. The newly synthesized honeycomb rhodate Li₂RhO₃ is a promising candidate material for bond directional Kitaev interactions as it is isostructural with Na₂IrO₃, which exhibits dominant Kitaev coupling in its magnetic Hamiltonian. Additionally, Li₂RhO₃ lacks the highly neutron absorbing Iridium ions of Na₂IrO₃, making it well suited for investigation via neutron scattering. High resolution neutron powder diffraction was performed on Li₂RhO₃ at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Because Li₂RhO₃ is comprised of nearly decoupled hexagonal planes, it is prone to stacking faults which can alter the ground state. Therefore, we present refinements on collected neutron diffraction data via the Rietveld method using the FullProf Suite and discuss site disorder and stacking faults in Li₂RhO₃.