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Abstract

The spiral spin liquid (SSL) is a highly degenerate state characterized by a continuous contour or surface in reciprocal space spanned by a spiral propagation vector. Although the SSL state has been predicted in a number of various theoretical models, very few materials are so far experimentally identified to host such a state. Via combined single-crystal wide-angle and small-angle neutron scattering, we report observation of the SSL in the quasi-two-dimensional delafossite-like AgCrSe2. We show that it is a very close realization of the ideal Heisenberg J1–J2–J3 frustrated model on the triangular lattice. By supplementing our experimental results with microscopic spin-dynamics simulations, we demonstrate how such exotic magnetic states are driven by thermal fluctuations and exchange frustration.