Spin dynamics and field-induced magnetic phase transition in the honeycomb Kitaev magnet αLi2IrO3

Choi, Sungkyun; Manni, S.; Singleton, J.; Topping, C. V.; Lancaster, T.; Blundell, S. J.; Adroja, D. T.; Zapf, V.; Gegenwart, P.; Coldea, R.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.99.054426

Title: Spin dynamics and field-induced magnetic phase transition in the honeycomb Kitaev magnet $α {Li}_{2} {IrO}_{3}$

Journal Article · 24 February 2019 · Physical Review B

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.99.054426 · OSTI ID:1565889

Choi, Sungkyun ^[1]; Manni, S. ^[2]; Singleton, J. ^[3]; Topping, C. V. ^[4]; Lancaster, T. ^[5]; Blundell, S. J. ^[6]; Adroja, D. T. ^[7]; Zapf, V. ^[3]; Gegenwart, P. ^[8]; Coldea, R. ^[6]

Univ. of Oxford Physics Dept., Oxford (United Kingdom). Clarendon Lab.; Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States). Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Augsburg Univ., Augsburg (Germany). EP VI, Center for Electronic Correlations and Magnetism; Indian Inst. of Technology Palakkad, Kerala (India)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). National High Magnetic Field Lab.
Univ. of Oxford Physics Dept., Oxford (United Kingdom). Clarendon Lab.; Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). National High Magnetic Field Lab.
Durham Univ., Durham (United Kingdom). Dept. of Physics
Univ. of Oxford Physics Dept., Oxford (United Kingdom). Clarendon Lab.
Rutherford Appleton Lab-STFC, Chilton, Didcot (United Kingdom). ISIS Facility; Univ. of Johannesburg, Auckland Park (South Africa). Highly Correlated Matter Research Group, Physics Dept.
Augsburg Univ., Augsburg (Germany). EP VI, Center for Electronic Correlations and Magnetism

The layered honeycomb iridate $$α-Li_2IrO_3$$ displays an incommensurate magnetic structure with counter-rotating moments on nearest-neighbor sites, proposed to be stabilized by strongly frustrated anisotropic Kitaev interactions between spin-orbit entangled $$Ir^{4+}$$ magnetic moments. Here we report powder inelastic neutron scattering measurements that observe sharply dispersive low-energy magnetic excitations centered at the magnetic ordering wave vector, attributed to Goldstone excitations of the incommensurate order, as well as an additional intense mode above a gap $Δ ≃ 2.3$ meV. Zero-field muon-spin relaxation measurements show clear oscillations in the muon polarization below the Néel temperature $$T_N ≃ 15$$ K with a time-dependent profile consistent with bulk incommensurate long-range magnetism. Pulsed-field magnetization measurements observe that only about half the saturation magnetization value is reached at the maximum field of 64 T. A clear anomaly near 25 T indicates a transition to a phase with reduced susceptibility. The transition field has a Zeeman energy comparable to the zero-field gapped mode, suggesting gap suppression as a possible mechanism for the field-induced transition.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1565889

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--18-29558

Journal Information:: Physical Review B, Journal Name: Physical Review B Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 99; ISSN 2469-9950; ISSN PRBMDO

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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High-resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study of the electron-phonon coupling in honeycomb α − Li 2 IrO 3 Vale, J. G.; Dashwood, C. D.; Paris, E. Physical Review B, Vol. 100, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.100.224303	journal	December 2019
Lattice dynamics and structural transition of the hyperhoneycomb iridate β − Li 2 IrO 3 investigated by high-pressure Raman scattering Choi, Sungkyun; Kim, Heung-Sik; Kim, Hun-Ho Physical Review B, Vol. 101, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.101.054102	journal	February 2020
Thermodynamic Evidence of Proximity to a Kitaev Spin Liquid in Ag 3 LiIr 2 O 6 Bahrami, Faranak; Lafargue-Dit-Hauret, William; Lebedev, Oleg I. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 123, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.123.237203	journal	December 2019
Heisenberg-Kitaev models on hyperhoneycomb and stripy-honeycomb lattices: 3D-2D equivalence of ordered states and phase diagrams Krüger, Wilhelm G. F.; Vojta, Matthias; Janssen, Lukas Physical Review Research, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.2.012021	journal	January 2020
Heisenberg-Kitaev Models on Hyperhoneycomb and Stripyhoneycomb Lattices: 3D-2D Equivalence of Ordered States and Phase Diagrams Krüger, Wilhelm G. F.; Vojta, Matthias; Janssen, Lukas arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1907.05423	text	January 2019

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