No Arabic abstract
The spin-orbit entangled (SOE) Jeff-state has been a fertile ground to study novel quantum phenomena. Contrary to the conventional weakly correlated Jeff=1/2 state of 4d and 5d transition metal compounds, the ground state of CuAl2O4 hosts a Jeff=1/2 state with a strong correlation of Coulomb U. Here, we report that surprisingly Cu2+ ions of CuAl2O4 overcome the otherwise usually strong Jahn-Teller distortion and instead stabilize the SOE state, although the cuprate has relatively small spin-orbit coupling. From the x-ray absorption spectroscopy and high-pressure x-ray diffraction studies, we obtained definite evidence of the Jeff=1/2 state with a cubic lattice at ambient pressure. We also found the pressure-induced structural transition to a compressed tetragonal lattice consisting of the spin-only S=1/2 state for pressure higher than Pc=8 GPa. This phase transition from the Mott insulating Jeff=1/2 to the S=1/2 states is a unique phenomenon and has not been reported before. Our study offers a rare example of the SOE Jeff-state under strong electron correlation and its pressure-induced transition to the S=1/2 state.
We investigated electronic structure of 5d transition-metal oxide Sr2IrO4 using angle-resolved photoemission, optical conductivity, and x-ray absorption measurements and first-principles band calculations. The system was found to be well described by novel effective total angular momentum Jeff states, in which relativistic spin-orbit (SO) coupling is fully taken into account under a large crystal field. Despite of delocalized Ir 5d states, the Jeff-states form so narrow bands that even a small correlation energy leads to the Jeff = 1/2 Mott ground state with unique electronic and magnetic behaviors, suggesting a new class of the Jeff quantum spin driven correlated-electron phenomena.
Ba3IrTi2O9 crystallizes in a hexagonal structure consisting of a layered triangular arrangement of Ir4+ (Jeff=1/2). Magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity data show no magnetic ordering down to 0.35K inspite of a strong magnetic coupling as evidenced by a large Curie-Weiss temperature=-130K. The magnetic heat capacity follows a power law at low temperature. Our measurements suggest that Ba3IrTi2O9 is a 5d, Ir-based (Jeff=1/2), quantum spin liquid on a 2D triangular lattice.
Zeldovich (spin) anapole correlations in Sr2IrO4 unveiled by magnetic neutron diffraction contravene the spin-orbit coupled ground state used by the jeff = 1/2 (pseudo-spin) model. Specifically, spin and space know inextricable knots which bind each to the other in the iridate. The diffraction property studied in the Letter is enforced by strict requirements from quantum mechanics and magnetic symmetry. It has not been exploited in the past, whereas neutron diffraction by anapole moments is established. Entanglement of the electronic degrees of freedom is captured by binary correlations of the anapole and position operators, and hallmarked in the diffraction amplitude by axial atomic multipoles with an even rank.
The magnetic properties of alkali-metal peroxychromate K$_2$NaCrO$_8$ are governed by the $S = 1/2$ pentavalent chromium cation, Cr$^{5+}$. Specific heat, magnetocalorimetry, ac magnetic susceptibility, torque magnetometry, and inelastic neutron scattering data have been acquired over a wide range of temperature, down to 60 mK, and magnetic field, up to 18 T. The magnetic interactions are quasi-two-dimensional prior to long-range ordering, where $T_N = 1.66$ K in $H = 0$. In the $T to 0$ limit, the magnetic field tuned antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic phase transition suggests a critical field $H_c = 7.270$ T and a critical exponent $alpha = 0.481 pm 0.004$. The neutron data indicate the magnetic interactions may extend over intra-planar nearest-neighbors and inter-planar next-nearest-neighbor spins.
As a hallmark of electronic correlation, spin-charge interplay underlies many emergent phenomena in doped Mott insulators, such as high-temperature superconductivity, whereas the half-filled parent state is usually electronically frozen with an antiferromagnetic order that resists external control. We report on the observation of a new positive magnetoresistance that probes the staggered susceptibility of a pseudospin-half square-lattice Mott insulator built as an artificial SrIrO3/SrTiO3 superlattice. Its size is particularly large in the high-temperature insulating paramagnetic phase near the Neel transition. This novel magnetoresistance originates from a collective charge response to the large longitudinal spin fluctuations under a linear coupling between the external magnetic field and the staggered magnetization enabled by strong spin-orbit interaction. Our results demonstrate a magnetic control of the binding energy of the fluctuating particle-hole pairs in the Slater-Mott crossover regime analogous to the BCS-to-Bose-Einstein condensation crossover of ultracold-superfluids.