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Exploring magnetic anisotropy and robustness of the Jeff = 1/2 state under substantial orthorhombic distortion in Sr2IrO4 thin films
Abstract
Here, we present a comprehensive study revealing the intricate interplay of the magnetic anisotropy and orthorhombic distortion in thin films of Sr2IrO4 through a Ca3Ru2O7 substrate. By inducing a pronounced orthorhombic distortion along the direction of oxygen octahedral edges, we effectively modulated the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in the system. Remarkably divergent responses along the easy and hard magnetic axes were unveiled through x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements under magnetic fields. Specifically, the spin flop transition observed when the magnetic field aligns with the hard axis allows us to estimate the magnetic anisotropy energy, which is around 14.2 µeV, close to that estimated from the single magnon peak measured via Raman spectroscopy. The observed anisotropy energy remains notably lower than the linear estimates derived from the strain-anisotropy energy relationship outlined in H.-H. Kim et al., Nat. Commun. 13, 6674 (2022). This underscores the enduring preservation of the isotropic character of the Jeff = 1/2 states. This is also supported by the negligible XMCD intensity ratio at the L2 edge compared to that of the L3 edge. Furthermore, the branching ratio determined from x-ray absorption spectroscopy shows that the expectation value of the spin-orbit coupling is similar to that of bulkmore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
- Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States)
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
- Max Planck Institute of Solid State Research, Stuttgart (Germany)
- The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 2326936
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357; DMR-2104296; DMR-1847964
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review. B
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 109; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9950
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; magnetic anisotropy; methods in magnetism; spin-orbit coupling; antiferromagnets; magnetic insulators; magnetic systems; magnetic thin films; thin films; epitaxy; film deposition; laser ablation; raman spectroscopy; x-ray absorption spectroscopy; x-ray magnetic circular dichroism; x-ray techniques
Citation Formats
Shrestha, Sujan, Choi, Y., Krautloher, M., Zhu, M., Hwang, J., Keimer, B., Seo, Ambrose S., and Kim, J. -W. Exploring magnetic anisotropy and robustness of the Jeff = 1/2 state under substantial orthorhombic distortion in Sr2IrO4 thin films. United States: N. p., 2024.
Web. doi:10.1103/physrevb.109.104415.
Shrestha, Sujan, Choi, Y., Krautloher, M., Zhu, M., Hwang, J., Keimer, B., Seo, Ambrose S., & Kim, J. -W. Exploring magnetic anisotropy and robustness of the Jeff = 1/2 state under substantial orthorhombic distortion in Sr2IrO4 thin films. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.109.104415
Shrestha, Sujan, Choi, Y., Krautloher, M., Zhu, M., Hwang, J., Keimer, B., Seo, Ambrose S., and Kim, J. -W. Thu .
"Exploring magnetic anisotropy and robustness of the Jeff = 1/2 state under substantial orthorhombic distortion in Sr2IrO4 thin films". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.109.104415.
@article{osti_2326936,
title = {Exploring magnetic anisotropy and robustness of the Jeff = 1/2 state under substantial orthorhombic distortion in Sr2IrO4 thin films},
author = {Shrestha, Sujan and Choi, Y. and Krautloher, M. and Zhu, M. and Hwang, J. and Keimer, B. and Seo, Ambrose S. and Kim, J. -W.},
abstractNote = {Here, we present a comprehensive study revealing the intricate interplay of the magnetic anisotropy and orthorhombic distortion in thin films of Sr2IrO4 through a Ca3Ru2O7 substrate. By inducing a pronounced orthorhombic distortion along the direction of oxygen octahedral edges, we effectively modulated the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in the system. Remarkably divergent responses along the easy and hard magnetic axes were unveiled through x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements under magnetic fields. Specifically, the spin flop transition observed when the magnetic field aligns with the hard axis allows us to estimate the magnetic anisotropy energy, which is around 14.2 µeV, close to that estimated from the single magnon peak measured via Raman spectroscopy. The observed anisotropy energy remains notably lower than the linear estimates derived from the strain-anisotropy energy relationship outlined in H.-H. Kim et al., Nat. Commun. 13, 6674 (2022). This underscores the enduring preservation of the isotropic character of the Jeff = 1/2 states. This is also supported by the negligible XMCD intensity ratio at the L2 edge compared to that of the L3 edge. Furthermore, the branching ratio determined from x-ray absorption spectroscopy shows that the expectation value of the spin-orbit coupling is similar to that of bulk Sr2IrO4 single crystals. Our findings indicate that even under a substantial anisotropic biaxial distortion, Sr2IrO4 remains remarkably proximate to the Jeff = 1/2 state. This study not only provides valuable information in understanding the interplay between magnetic anisotropy and strain but also the robustness of the Jeff = 1/2 state under octahedral distortion within materials exhibiting emergent quantum phenomena.},
doi = {10.1103/physrevb.109.104415},
journal = {Physical Review. B},
number = 10,
volume = 109,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Mar 14 00:00:00 EDT 2024},
month = {Thu Mar 14 00:00:00 EDT 2024}
}
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