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Spin-orbit excitations and electronic structure of the putative Kitaev magnetα−RuCl3
- Source :
- Physical Review B. 93
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- American Physical Society (APS), 2016.
-
Abstract
- Mott insulators with strong spin-orbit coupling have been proposed to host unconventional magnetic states, including the Kitaev quantum spin liquid. The $4d$ system $\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{-}{\mathrm{RuCl}}_{3}$ has recently come into view as a candidate Kitaev system, with evidence for unusual spin excitations in magnetic scattering experiments. We apply a combination of optical spectroscopy and Raman scattering to study the electronic structure of this material. Our measurements reveal a series of orbital excitations involving localized total angular momentum states of the Ru ion, implying that strong spin-orbit coupling and electron-electron interactions coexist in this material. Analysis of these features allows us to estimate the spin-orbit coupling strength, as well as other parameters describing the local electronic structure, revealing a well-defined hierarchy of energy scales within the Ru $d$ states. By comparing our experimental results with density functional theory calculations, we also clarify the overall features of the optical response. Our results demonstrate that $\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{-}{\mathrm{RuCl}}_{3}$ is an ideal material system to study spin-orbit coupled magnetism on the honeycomb lattice.
- Subjects :
- Physics
Condensed matter physics
Scattering
Magnetism
Mott insulator
02 engineering and technology
Electronic structure
021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology
01 natural sciences
Total angular momentum quantum number
0103 physical sciences
Density functional theory
Quantum spin liquid
010306 general physics
0210 nano-technology
Spectroscopy
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 24699969 and 24699950
- Volume :
- 93
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Physical Review B
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........70288d06eda7749f3413d40627872a9a
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.93.075144