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Title: Pressure-tuning of bond-directional exchange interactions and magnetic frustration in hyperhoneycomb iridate β-Li2IrO3

Journal Article · · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [6];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [6];  [11];  [11];  [12]
  1. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom)
  2. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany)
  3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Center for High Pressure Science & Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR), Shanghai (China); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
  4. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Brazilian Synchrotron Light Lab. (LNLS), Campinas (Brazil)
  5. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  6. Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States)
  7. Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON (Canada)
  8. Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON (Canada); Canadian Institute for Advanced Research/Quantum Materials Program, Toronto, ON (Canada)
  9. Center for High Pressure Science & Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR), Shanghai (China); Carnegie Inst. of Washington, Argonne, IL (United States)
  10. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States)
  11. Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart (Germany); Univ. of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)
  12. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Here, we explore the response of Ir 5d orbitals to pressure in β-Li2IrO3, a hyperhoneycomb iridate in proximity to a Kitaev quantum spin-liquid (QSL) ground state. X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals a reconstruction of the electronic ground state below 2 GPa, the same pressure range where x-ray magnetic circular dichroism shows an apparent collapse of magnetic order. The electronic reconstruction, which manifests a reduction in the effective spin-orbit interaction in 5d orbitals, pushes β-Li2IrO3 further away from the pure Jeff = 1/2 limit. Although lattice symmetry is preserved across the electronic transition, x-ray diffraction shows a highly anisotropic compression of the hyperhoneycomb lattice which affects the balance of bond-directional Ir-Ir exchange interactions driven by spin-orbit coupling at Ir sites. An enhancement of symmetric anisotropic exchange over Kitaev and Heisenberg exchange interactions seen in theoretical calculations that use precisely this anisotropic Ir-Ir bond compression provides one possible route to the realization of a QSL state in this hyperhoneycomb iridate at high pressures.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory, Advanced Photon Source; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22), Materials Sciences and Engineering Division
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1402077
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1412661; OSTI ID: 1398826
Journal Information:
Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter, Journal Name: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter Journal Issue: 14 Vol. 96; ISSN 0163-1829
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Collective spin dynamics of Z 2 vortex crystals in triangular Kitaev-Heisenberg antiferromagnets journal August 2019
Magnetic field induced evolution of intertwined orders in the Kitaev magnet β − Li 2 IrO 3 journal May 2018
Pressure-Tuned Interactions in Frustrated Magnets: Pathway to Quantum Spin Liquids? journal December 2019
Competition between spin-orbit coupling, magnetism, and dimerization in the honeycomb iridates: α − Li 2 IrO 3 under pressure journal January 2018
Orbital magnetic field effects in Mott insulators with strong spin-orbit coupling journal October 2019
Magnetic structure and excitation spectrum of the hyperhoneycomb Kitaev magnet β − Li 2 IrO 3 journal March 2018
Possible Quantum Paramagnetism in Compressed Sr 2 IrO 4 journal February 2020
Lattice dynamics and structural transition of the hyperhoneycomb iridate β − Li 2 IrO 3 investigated by high-pressure Raman scattering journal February 2020
Anisotropic temperature-field phase diagram of single crystalline β − Li 2 IrO 3 : Magnetization, specific heat, and Li 7 NMR study journal July 2019
Pressure-induced structural dimerization in the hyperhoneycomb iridate β − Li 2 IrO 3 at low temperatures journal August 2019
Electronic and structural response to pressure in the hyperkagome-lattice Na 3 Ir 3 O 8 journal August 2018
Models and Materials for Generalized Kitaev Magnetism text January 2017
Pressure-induced collapse of the spin-orbital Mott state in the hyperhoneycomb iridate β − Li 2 IrO 3 journal March 2019
Spin dynamics and field-induced magnetic phase transition in the honeycomb Kitaev magnet α − Li 2 IrO 3 journal February 2019
Unconventional magnetic field response of the hyperhoneycomb Kitaev magnet β − Li 2 IrO 3 journal January 2020
Concept and realization of Kitaev quantum spin liquids journal March 2019
Hidden Plaquette Order in a Classical Spin Liquid Stabilized by Strong Off-Diagonal Exchange journal June 2019
Models and materials for generalized Kitaev magnetism journal November 2017
Breakdown of Magnetic Order in the Pressurized Kitaev Iridate β − Li 2 IrO 3 journal June 2018
Coexistence of static and dynamic magnetism in the Kitaev spin liquid material Cu 2 IrO 3 journal September 2019
Nonsymmorphic-Symmetry-Protected Topological Magnons in Three-Dimensional Kitaev Materials journal November 2019