No Arabic abstract
We employ an optical pump-probe technique to study coherent phonon oscillations in Ca$_2$RuO$_4$. We find that oscillation-amplitude of an $A_g$ symmetric phonon mode is strongly suppressed at 260 K, a putative transition point of orbital ordering. The oscillation also shows a gradual but huge change in its $phase$, such that the oscillation even flips over with a 180$^{circ}$ change across the temperature. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the $A_g$ phonon has an eigenmode of octahedral distortion with conventional tilting along the $a$-axis and antipolar distortion of apical oxygen. Careful inspection of the lattice captures an unusually large antipolar distortion in low-temperature structures, which may play a crucial role for the phase transition at 260 K.
We present evidence for quantum oscillations in the pressure-induced metallic state of the 4$d$ layered perovskite Ca$_2$RuO$_4$. A complicated oscillation spectrum is observed, which is both temperature and field dependent, with unusually light cyclotron masses in the range of $m^*/m_e$ $sim$ 0.6 -- 3, suggesting that the pressure-induced metallic state is a weakly correlated Fermi liquid. We compare our observations to band structure calculations within the local spin density approximation, and conclude that some features of the spectrum are a result of non-linear spin splitting effects.
We present and analyze Raman spectra of the Mott insulator Ca$_2$RuO$_4$, whose quasi-two-dimensional antiferromagnetic order has been described as a condensate of low-lying spin-orbit excitons with angular momentum $J_{eff}=1$. In the $A_g$ polarization geometry, the amplitude (Higgs) mode of the spin-orbit condensate is directly probed in the scalar channel, thus avoiding infrared-singular magnon contributions. In the $B_{1g}$ geometry, we observe a single-magnon peak as well as two-magnon and two-Higgs excitations. Model calculations using exact diagonalization quantitatively agree with the observations. Together with recent neutron scattering data, our study provides strong evidence for excitonic magnetism in Ca$_2$RuO$_4$ and points out new perspectives for research on the Higgs mode in two dimensions.
We review the magnetic and orbital ordered states in cro{} by performing Resonant Elastic X-ray Scattering (REXS) at the Ru L$_{2,3}$-edges. In principle, the point symmetry at Ru sites does not constrain the direction of the magnetic moment below $T_N$. However early measurements reported the ordered moment entirely along the $vec{b}$ orthorhombic axis. Taking advantage of the large resonant enhancement of the magnetic scattering close to the Ru L$_2$ and L$_3$ absorption edges, we monitored the azimuthal, thermal and energy dependence of the REXS intensity and find that a canting ($m_c simeq 0.1 m_b$) along the $vec{c}$-orthorhombic axis is present. No signal was found for $m_a$ despite this component also being allowed by symmetry. Such findings are interpreted by a microscopic model Hamiltonian, and pose new constraints on the parameters describing the model. Using the same technique we reviewed the accepted orbital ordering picture. We detected no symmetry breaking associated with the signal increase at the so-called orbital ordering temperature ($simeq 260$ K). We did not find any changes of the orbital pattern even through the antiferromagnetic transition, suggesting that, if any, only a complex rearrangement of the orbitals, not directly measurable using linearly polarized light, can take place.
We have studied the influence of a magnetic field on the thermodynamic properties of Ca$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$RuO$_4$ in the intermediate metallic region with tilt and rotational distortions ($0.2leq x leq 0.5$). We find strong and anisotropic thermal expansion anomalies at low temperatures, which are suppressed and even reversed by a magnetic field. The metamagnetic transition of Ca$_{1.8}$Sr$_{0.2}$RuO$_4$ is accompanied by a large magnetostriction. Furthermore, we observe a strong magnetic-field dependence of $c_p/T$, that can be explained by magnetic fluctuations.
A paradigmatic case of multi-band Mott physics including spin-orbit and Hunds coupling is realised in Ca$_2$RuO$_4$. Progress in understanding the nature of this Mott insulating phase has been impeded by the lack of knowledge about the low-energy electronic structure. Here we provide -- using angle-resolved photoemission electron spectroscopy -- the band structure of the paramagnetic insulating phase of Ca$_2$RuO$_4$ and show how it features several distinct energy scales. Comparison to a simple analysis of atomic multiplets provides a quantitative estimate of the Hunds coupling $J=0.4$ eV. Furthermore, the experimental spectra are in good agreement with electronic structure calculations performed with Dynamical Mean-Field Theory. The crystal field stabilisation of the d$_{xy}$ orbital due to $c$-axis contraction is shown to be important in explaining the nature of the insulating state. It is thus a combination of multiband physics, Coulomb interaction and Hunds coupling that generates the Mott insulating state of Ca$_2$RuO$_4$. These results underscore the importance of Hunds coupling in the ruthenates and related multiband materials.