Nag, Abhishek and Middey, S and Bhowal, Sayantika and Panda, SK and Mathieu, Roland and Orain, JC and Bert, F and Mendels, P and Freeman, PG and Mansson, M and Ronnow, HM and Telling, M and Biswas, PK and Sheptyakov, D and Kaushik, SD and Siruguri, Vasudeva and Meneghini, Carlo and Sarma, DD and Dasgupta, Indra and Ray, Sugata (2016) Origin of the Spin-Orbital Liquid State in a Nearly J=0 Iridate Ba3ZnIr2O9. In: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 116 (9).
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Abstract
We show using detailed magnetic and thermodynamic studies and theoretical calculations that the ground state of Ba3ZnIr2O9 is a realization of a novel spin-orbital liquid state. Our results reveal that Ba3ZnIr2O9 with Ir5+ (5d(4)) ions and strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) arrives very close to the elusive J = 0 state but each Ir ion still possesses a weak moment. Ab initio density functional calculations indicate that this moment is developed due to superexchange, mediated by a strong intradimer hopping mechanism. While the Ir spins within the structural Ir2O9 dimer are expected to form a spin-orbit singlet state (SOS) with no resultant moment, substantial frustration arising from interdimer exchange interactions induce quantum fluctuations in these possible SOS states favoring a spin-orbital liquid phase down to at least 100 mK.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Publication: | PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS |
| Publisher: | AMER PHYSICAL SOC |
| Additional Information: | Copy right for this article belongs to the AMER PHYSICAL SOC, ONE PHYSICS ELLIPSE, COLLEGE PK, MD 20740-3844 USA |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Chemical Sciences > Solid State & Structural Chemistry Unit |
| Date Deposited: | 07 Apr 2016 05:45 |
| Last Modified: | 07 Apr 2016 05:45 |
| URI: | http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/53609 |
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