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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Electronic correlations and magnetic interactions in infinite-layer NdNiO2
    (Woodbury, NY : Inst., 2020) Katukuri, Vamshi M.; Bogdanov, Nikolay A.; Weser, Oskar; Van den Brink, Jeroen; Alavi, Ali
    The large antiferromagnetic exchange coupling in the parent high-Tc cuprate superconductors is believed to play a crucial role in pairing the superconducting carriers. The recent observation of superconductivity in hole-doped infinite-layer (IL-) NdNiO2 brings to the fore the relevance of magnetic coupling in high-Tc superconductors, particularly because no magnetic ordering is observed in the undoped IL-NdNiO2, unlike in parent copper oxides. Here, we investigate the electronic structure and the nature of magnetic exchange in IL-NdNiO2 using state-of-the-art many-body quantum chemistry methods. From a systematic comparison of the electronic and magnetic properties with isostructural cuprate IL-CaCuO2, we find that the on-site dynamical correlations are significantly stronger in IL-NdNiO2 compared to the cuprate analog. These dynamical correlations play a critical role in the magnetic exchange resulting in an unexpectedly large antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor isotropic J of 77 meV between the Ni1+ ions within the ab plane. While we find many similarities in the electronic structure between the nickelate and the cuprate, the role of electronic correlations is profoundly different in the two. We further discuss the implications of our findings in understanding the origin of superconductivity in nickelates. © 2020 authors.
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    Orbital reconstruction in nonpolar tetravalent transition-metal oxide layers
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2015) Bogdanov, Nikolay A.; Katukuri, Vamshi M.; Romhányi, Judit; Yushankhai, Viktor; Kataev, Vladislav; Büchner, Bernd; van den Brink, Jeroen; Hozoi, Liviu
    A promising route to tailoring the electronic properties of quantum materials and devices rests on the idea of orbital engineering in multilayered oxide heterostructures. Here we show that the interplay of interlayer charge imbalance and ligand distortions provides a knob for tuning the sequence of electronic levels even in intrinsically stacked oxides. We resolve in this regard the d-level structure of layered Sr2IrO4 by electron spin resonance. While canonical ligand-field theory predicts g
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    Strongly frustrated triangular spin lattice emerging from triplet dimer formation in honeycomb Li2IrO3
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Nishimoto, Satoshi; Katukuri, Vamshi M.; Yushankhai, Viktor; Stoll, Hermann; Rößler, Ulrich K.; Hozoi, Liviu; Rousochatzakis, Ioannis; van den Brink, Jeroen
    Iridium oxides with a honeycomb lattice have been identified as platforms for the much anticipated Kitaev topological spin liquid: the spin-orbit entangled states of Ir4+ in principle generate precisely the required type of anisotropic exchange. However, other magnetic couplings can drive the system away from the spin-liquid phase. With this in mind, here we disentangle the different magnetic interactions in Li2IrO3, a honeycomb iridate with two crystallographically inequivalent sets of adjacent Ir sites. Our ab initio many-body calculations show that, while both Heisenberg and Kitaev nearest-neighbour couplings are present, on one set of Ir–Ir bonds the former dominates, resulting in the formation of spin-triplet dimers. The triplet dimers frame a strongly frustrated triangular lattice and by exact cluster diagonalization we show that they remain protected in a wide region of the phase diagram.
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    The vicinity of hyper-honeycomb β-Li2IrO3 to a three-dimensional Kitaev spin liquid state
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Katukuri, Vamshi M.; Yadav, Ravi; Hozoi, Liviu; Nishimoto, Satoshi; van den Brink, Jeroen
    Due to the combination of a substantial spin-orbit coupling and correlation effects, iridium oxides hold a prominent place in the search for novel quantum states of matter, including, e.g., Kitaev spin liquids and topological Weyl states. We establish the promise of the very recently synthesized hyper-honeycomb iridate β-Li2IrO3 in this regard. A detailed theoretical analysis reveals the presence of large ferromagnetic first-neighbor Kitaev interactions, while a second-neighbor antiferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange drives the ground state from ferro to zigzag order via a three-dimensional Kitaev spin liquid and an incommensurate phase. Experiment puts the system in the latter regime but the Kitaev spin liquid is very close and reachable by a slight modification of the ratio between the second- and first-neighbor couplings, for instance via strain.
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    Strong magnetic frustration and anti-site disorder causing spin-glass behavior in honeycomb Li2RhO3
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2015) Katukuri, Vamshi M.; Nishimoto, Satoshi; Rousochatzakis, Ioannis; Stoll, Hermann; van den Brink, Jeroen; Hozoi, Liviu
    With large spin-orbit coupling, the electron configuration in d-metal oxides is prone to highly anisotropic exchange interactions and exotic magnetic properties. In 5d5 iridates, given the existing variety of crystal structures, the magnetic anisotropy can be tuned from antisymmetric to symmetric Kitaev-type, with interaction strengths that outsize the isotropic terms. By many-body electronic-structure calculations we here address the nature of the magnetic exchange and the intriguing spin-glass behavior of Li2RhO3, a 4d5 honeycomb oxide. For pristine crystals without Rh-Li site inversion, we predict a dimerized ground state as in the isostructural 5d5 iridate Li2IrO3, with triplet spin dimers effectively placed on a frustrated triangular lattice. With Rh-Li anti-site disorder, we explain the observed spin-glass phase as a superposition of different, nearly degenerate symmetry-broken configurations.
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    Kitaev exchange and field-induced quantum spin-liquid states in honeycomb α-RuCl3
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Yadav, Ravi; Bogdanov, Nikolay A.; Katukuri, Vamshi M.; Nishimoto, Satoshi; van den Brink, Jeroen; Hozoi, Liviu
    Large anisotropic exchange in 5d and 4d oxides and halides open the door to new types of magnetic ground states and excitations, inconceivable a decade ago. A prominent case is the Kitaev spin liquid, host of remarkable properties such as protection of quantum information and the emergence of Majorana fermions. Here we discuss the promise for spin-liquid behavior in the 4d5 honeycomb halide α-RuCl3. From advanced electronic-structure calculations, we find that the Kitaev interaction is ferromagnetic, as in 5d5 iridium honeycomb oxides, and indeed defines the largest superexchange energy scale. A ferromagnetic Kitaev coupling is also supported by a detailed analysis of the field-dependent magnetization. Using exact diagonalization and density-matrix renormalization group techniques for extended Kitaev-Heisenberg spin Hamiltonians, we find indications for a transition from zigzag order to a gapped spin liquid when applying magnetic field. Our results offer a unified picture on recent magnetic and spectroscopic measurements on this material and open new perspectives on the prospect of realizing quantum spin liquids in d5 halides and oxides in general.