Star lattice, which can be visualized as a honeycomb network with each vertex replaced by a triangle, provides a rare platform for realizing exotic quantum states such as quantum spin liquids and disorder-driven random-singlet (RS) states. Herein, we investigate the ground-state properties of the three-dimensional (3D) stuffed hyper-star lattice Li2Cu2(MoO4)3, which exhibits a crossover from short-range spin correlations to a disorder-driven RS-like state below T∗∼15.8 K. Thermodynamic and microscopic measurements capture this crossover through a change in the power-law behavior of various observables, from ∼T0.25 for T>T∗ to ∼T−0.50 for T<T∗. Upon further cooling, a quasi-frozen state emerges near Tf=0.32 K, likely associated with weakly coupled spin chains within the hyper-star spin network. Our results underscore the crucial role of orphan spins and weak residual interactions in stabilizing a disorder-driven quantum-disordered state in 3D.
@article{arxiv.2603.23350,
title = {Multistage spin correlations in the $s$ = 1/2 stuffed hyper-star lattice Li$_{2}$Cu$_{2}$(MoO$_{4}$)$_{3}$},
author = {J. Khatua and Taeyun Kim and G. Senthil Murugan and S. M. Kumawat and C. -L. Huang and Yugo Oshima and Hiroyuki Nojiri and Gerald Morris and Sarah R. Dunsiger and Heung-Sik Kim and K. Sritharan and Shankar Mani and R. Sankar and Kwang-Yong Choi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.23350},
year = {2026}
}