Thermal excitations are typically detrimental to quantum coherence. Here, using inelastic neutron scattering measurements, the authors observe a sharp spinon spectrum in the spin-1/2 chain compound YbAlO3 at temperatures well above the energy scale of spin interactions, indicating long-range quantum coherence.
- Lazar L. Kish
- Andreas Weichselbaum
- Igor A. Zaliznyak