Spiral and Mixed Plaquette-Dimer Phases in the $S=1$ and $3/2$ Shastry-Sutherland Heisenberg Model

Abstract: We investigate the ground-state phase diagram of the $S=1$ and $S=3/2$ Heisenberg model on the two-dimensional Shastry-Sutherland lattice (SSL) using density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) and cluster mean-field theory (CMFT). Between the dimer phase and Néel antiferromagnetic phases, we identify two intermediate phases: a mixed plaquette-dimer (MPD) phase and a spiral phase. These phases are characterized via bond energies and spin-spin correlation functions; phase boundaries are located from the ground-state energy derivative and entanglement entropy. The MPD phase exhibits strong intradimer correlations and weak tetramerization on the empty plaquettes, and its transitions to the dimer and spiral phases are first order. Combining our results with the known boundaries for $S=1/2$ and the classical limit $S\to\infty$, we construct a global $S$-$g$ phase diagram. This diagram reveals the progressive suppression of quantum effects with increasing $S$ and offers a theoretical framework for larger-$S$ SSL materials.