Strain-driven enhancement of magnetic frustration in quantum spin-liquid TbInO ₃ thin films

Abstract Quantum spin-liquid (QSL) ground state emerges in frustrated magnetic systems where competing interactions suppress long-range magnetic ordering. TbInO ₃ , a hexagonal perovskite, shows QSL behaviour due to geometrical frustration and strong spin–orbit coupling present in it. Here, we report the strain-driven modification of the magnetic ground state and the enhancement of magnetic frustration at milli-Kelvin (mK) temperature ( < 1 K) in the TbInO ₃ epitaxial thin film, grown on MgO (100) substrate. We observe a Curie–Weiss crossover at 1–30 K temperature, strong antiferromagnetic interactions, along with the absence of long-range ordering down to 400 mK, consistent with a QSL ground state. Notably, the thin film exhibits a significantly enhanced effective moment in the mK range compared to the bulk, attributed to strain-induced modification of the exchange pathway among Tb ³⁺ ions. This impact broadens the QSL state’s temperature range to lower temperatures and enhances magnetic frustration in the temperature-field phase space. Further, the first-principles calculation also supports the enhancement of frustration in thin film. These findings demonstrate that strain-induced tuning of exchange interactions can enhance the magnetic frustration, offering a route to stabilise QSL phases down to lower temperatures in hexagonal perovskite thin films.