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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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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.
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    Coupled multiple-mode theory for s± pairing mechanism in iron based superconductors
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Kiselev, M.N.; Efremov, D.V.; Drechsler, S.L.; van den Brink, Jeroen; Kikoin, K.
    We investigate the interplay between the magnetic and the superconducting degrees of freedom in unconventional multi-band superconductors such as iron pnictides. For this purpose a dynamical mode-mode coupling theory is developed based on the coupled Bethe-Salpeter equations. In order to investigate the region of the phase diagram not too far from the tetracritical point where the magnetic spin density wave, (SDW) and superconducting (SC) transition temperatures coincide, we also construct a Ginzburg-Landau functional including both SC and SDW fluctuations in a critical region above the transition temperatures. The fluctuation corrections tend to suppress the magnetic transition, but in the superconducting channel the intraband and interband contribution of the fluctuations nearly compensate each other.
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    High pressure die casting of Fe-based metallic glass
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Ramasamy, Parthiban; Szabo, Attila; Borzel, Stefan; Eckert, Jürgen; Stoica, Mihai; Bárdos, András
    Soft ferromagnetic Fe-based bulk metallic glass key-shaped specimens with a maximum and minimum width of 25.4 and 5 mm, respectively, were successfully produced using a high pressure die casting (HPDC) method, The influence of die material, alloy temperature and flow rate on the microstructure, thermal stability and soft ferromagnetic properties has been studied. The results suggest that a steel die in which the molten metal flows at low rate and high temperature can be used to produce completely glassy samples. This can be attributed to the laminar filling of the mold and to a lower heat transfer coefficient, which avoids the skin effect in the steel mold. In addition, magnetic measurements reveal that the amorphous structure of the material is maintained throughout the key-shaped samples. Although it is difficult to control the flow and cooling rate of the molten metal in the corners of the key due to different cross sections, this can be overcome by proper tool geometry. The present results confirm that HPDC is a suitable method for the casting of Fe-based bulk glassy alloys even with complex geometries for a broad range of applications.
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    Robust and tunable itinerant ferromagnetism at the silicon surface of the antiferromagnet GdRh2Si2
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Güttler, M.; Generalov, A.; Otrokov, M.M.; Kummer, K.; Kliemt, K.; Fedorov, A.; Chikina, A.; Danzenbächer, S.; Schulz, S.; Chulkov, E.V.; Koroteev, Yu. M.; Caroca-Canales, N.; Shi, M.; Radovic, M.; Geibel, C.; Laubschat, C.; Dudin, P.; Kim, T.K.; Hoesch, M.; Krellner, C.; Vyalikh, D.V.
    Spin-polarized two-dimensional electron states (2DESs) at surfaces and interfaces of magnetically active materials attract immense interest because of the idea of exploiting fermion spins rather than charge in next generation electronics. Applying angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, we show that the silicon surface of GdRh2Si2 bears two distinct 2DESs, one being a Shockley surface state, and the other a Dirac surface resonance. Both are subject to strong exchange interaction with the ordered 4f-moments lying underneath the Si-Rh-Si trilayer. The spin degeneracy of the Shockley state breaks down below ~90 K, and the splitting of the resulting subbands saturates upon cooling at values as high as ~185 meV. The spin splitting of the Dirac state becomes clearly visible around ~60 K, reaching a maximum of ~70 meV. An abrupt increase of surface magnetization at around the same temperature suggests that the Dirac state contributes significantly to the magnetic properties at the Si surface. We also show the possibility to tune the properties of 2DESs by depositing alkali metal atoms. The unique temperature-dependent ferromagnetic properties of the Si-terminated surface in GdRh2Si2 could be exploited when combined with functional adlayers deposited on top for which novel phenomena related to magnetism can be anticipated.
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    Spin-orbit coupling control of anisotropy, ground state and frustration in 5d2 Sr2MgOsO6
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Morrow, Ryan; Taylor, Alice E.; Singh, D.J.; Xiong, Jie; Rodan, Steven; Wolter, A.U.B.; Wurmehl, Sabine; Büchner, Bernd; Stone, M.B.; Kolesnikov, A.I.; Aczel, Adam A.; Christianson, A.D.; Woodward, Patrick M.
    The influence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on the physical properties of the 5d2 system Sr2MgOsO6 is probed via a combination of magnetometry, specific heat measurements, elastic and inelastic neutron scattering, and density functional theory calculations. Although a significant degree of frustration is expected, we find that Sr2MgOsO6 orders in a type I antiferromagnetic structure at the remarkably high temperature of 108 K. The measurements presented allow for the first accurate quantification of the size of the magnetic moment in a 5d2 system of 0.60(2) μB –a significantly reduced moment from the expected value for such a system. Furthermore, significant anisotropy is identified via a spin excitation gap, and we confirm by first principles calculations that SOC not only provides the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, but also plays a crucial role in determining both the ground state magnetic order and the size of the local moment in this compound. Through comparison to Sr2ScOsO6, it is demonstrated that SOC-induced anisotropy has the ability to relieve frustration in 5d2 systems relative to their 5d3 counterparts, providing an explanation of the high TN found in Sr2MgOsO6.
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    Rashba torque driven domain wall motion in magnetic helices
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Pylypovskyi, Oleksandr V.; Sheka, Denis D.; Kravchuk, Volodymyr P.; Yershov, Kostiantyn V.; Makarov, Denys; Gaididei, Yuri
    Manipulation of the domain wall propagation in magnetic wires is a key practical task for a number of devices including racetrack memory and magnetic logic. Recently, curvilinear effects emerged as an efficient mean to impact substantially the statics and dynamics of magnetic textures. Here, we demonstrate that the curvilinear form of the exchange interaction of a magnetic helix results in an effective anisotropy term and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction with a complete set of Lifshitz invariants for a one-dimensional system. In contrast to their planar counterparts, the geometrically induced modifications of the static magnetic texture of the domain walls in magnetic helices offer unconventional means to control the wall dynamics relying on spin-orbit Rashba torque. The chiral symmetry breaking due to the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction leads to the opposite directions of the domain wall motion in left- or right-handed helices. Furthermore, for the magnetic helices, the emergent effective anisotropy term and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction can be attributed to the clear geometrical parameters like curvature and torsion offering intuitive understanding of the complex curvilinear effects in magnetism.
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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.