Magnetism in a new structural family of iridates

ORAL

Abstract

The physics of Mott insulators underlies diverse phenomena ranging from high temperature superconductivity to exotic magnetism. Although both the electron spin and the local orbitals play a key role in these phenomena, in most systems these are connected only indirectly --- via Pauli exclusion --- since the spin-orbit interaction is relatively weak. Iridium-based oxides (iridates) depart from this expectation, since the spin-orbit coupling dominates over other interactions, such that the Mott physics obtains a strong orbital character. In some cases this is thought to generate strongly spin-anisotropic exchange. Here we report a new family of iridates whose magnetic character shows that this material has highly spin-anisotropic interactions, a key ingredient of the exotic possibilities associated with these compounds.

–

Authors

  • James Analytis

    University of California Berkeley

  • Tess Smidt

    Univ of California - Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University of California Berkeley

  • Ross McDonald

    National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos NM 87545, LANL, Los Alamos National Lab, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Kim Modic

    Los Alamos Natl Lab, Los Alamos National Lab

  • Itamar Kimchi

    University of California, Berkeley, University of California Berkeley

  • Ashvin Vishwanath

    University of California, Berkeley, Univ of California - Berkeley, UC Berkeley, LBNL, UC Berkeley, University of California Berkeley

  • Radu Coldea

    University of Oxford, University of Oxford, UK, Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom

  • Alun Biffin

    University of Oxford, UK

  • S.K. Choi

    University of Oxford, University of Oxford, UK

  • Julia Chan

    University of Texas at Dallas

  • Pilanda Watkins-Curry

    Louisiana State University