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Register a new user{it Ab initio} Studies on the Interplay between Spin-Orbit Interaction and Coulomb Correlation in Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ and Ba$_2$IrO$_4$
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{it Ab initio} analyses of A$_2$IrO$_4$ (A=Sr, Ba) are presented. Effective Hubbard-type models for Ir 5$d$ $t_{2g}$ manifolds downfolded from the global band structure are solved based on the dynamical mean-field theory. The results for A=Sr and Ba correctly reproduce paramagnetic metals undergoing continuous transitions to insulators below the Neel temperature $T_N$. These compounds are classified not into Mott insulators but into Slater insulators. However, the insulating gap opens by a synergy of the Neel order and significant band renormalization, which is also manifested by a 2D bad metallic behavior in the paramagnetic phase near the quantum criticality.
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In the context of correlated insulators, where electron-electron interactions (U) drive the localization of charge carriers, the metal-insulator transition (MIT) is described as either bandwidth (BC) or filling (FC) controlled. Motivated by the challenge of the insulating phase in Sr$_2$IrO$_4$, a new class of correlated insulators has been proposed, in which spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is believed to renormalize the bandwidth of the half-filled $j_{mathrm{eff}} = 1/2$ doublet, allowing a modest U to induce a charge-localized phase. Although this framework has been tacitly assumed, a thorough characterization of the ground state has been elusive. Furthermore, direct evidence for the role of SOC in stabilizing the insulating state has not been established, since previous attempts at revealing the role of SOC have been hindered by concurrently occurring changes to the filling. We overcome this challenge by employing multiple substituents that introduce well defined changes to the signatures of SOC and carrier concentration in the electronic structure, as well as a new methodology that allows us to monitor SOC directly. Specifically, we study Sr$_2$Ir$_{1-x}$T$_x$O$_4$ (T = Ru, Rh) by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), combined with ab-initio and supercell tight-binding calculations. This allows us to distinguish relativistic and filling effects, thereby establishing conclusively the central role of SOC in stabilizing the insulating state of Sr$_2$IrO$_4$. Most importantly, we estimate the critical value for spin-orbit coupling in this system to be $lambda_c = 0.42 pm 0.01$ eV, and provide the first demonstration of a spin-orbit-controlled MIT.
An anomalous optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) signal was previously reported in Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ and attributed to a hidden odd-parity bulk magnetic state. Here we investigate the origin of this SHG signal using a combination of bulk magnetic susceptibility, magnetic-field-dependent SHG rotational anisotropy, and overlapping wide-field SHG imaging and atomic force microscopy measurements. We find that the anomalous SHG signal exhibits a two-fold rotational symmetry as a function of in-plane magnetic field orientation that is associated with a crystallographic distortion. We also show a change in SHG signal across step edges that tracks the bulk antiferromagnetic stacking pattern. While we do not rule out the existence of hidden order in Sr$_2$IrO$_4$, our results altogether show that the anomalous SHG signal in parent Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ originates instead from a surface-magnetization-induced electric-dipole process that is enhanced by strong spin-orbit coupling.
We investigate the temporal evolution of electronic states in strontium iridate Sr$_2$IrO$_4$. The time resolved photoemission spectra of intrinsic, electron doped and the hole doped samples are monitored in identical experimental conditions. Our data on intrinsic and electron doped samples, show that primary doublon-holon pairs relax near to the chemical potential on a timescale shorter than $70$ fs. The subsequent cooling of low energy excitations takes place in two step: a rapid dynamics of $cong120$ fs is followed by a slower decay of $cong 1$ ps. The reported timescales endorse the analogies between Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ and copper oxides.
The effect of compression on the magnetic ground state of Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ is studied with x-ray resonant techniques in the diamond anvil cell. The weak interlayer exchange coupling between square-planar 2D IrO$_2$ layers is readily modified upon compression, with a crossover between magnetic structures around 7 GPa mimicking the effect of an applied magnetic field at ambient pressure. Higher pressures drive an order-disorder magnetic phase transition with no magnetic order detected above 17-20 GPa. The persistence of strong exchange interactions between $mathrm{J_{eff}}=1/2$ magnetic moments within the insulating IrO$_2$ layers up to at least 35 GPa points to a highly frustrated magnetic state in compressed Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ opening the door for realization of novel quantum paramagnetic phases driven by extended $5d$ orbitals with entangled spin and orbital degrees of freedom.
We show that, contrary to previous belief, the transition to the antiferromagnetic state of Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ in zero magnetic field does show up in the transverse resistivity. We attribute this to a change in transverse integrals associated to the magnetic ordering, which is evaluated considering hopping of the localized charge. The evolution of the resistivity anomaly associated to the magnetic transition under applied magnetic field is studied. It tracks the magnetic phase diagram, allowing to identify three different lines, notably the spin-flip line, associated with the reordering of the ferromagnetic component of the magnetization, and an intriguing line for field induced magnetism, also corroborated by magnetization measurements.
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