Topological insulators and metal-insulator transition in the pyrochlore iridates

Abstract

The possible existence of topological insulators in cubic pyrochlore iridates A${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ (A = Y or rare-earth elements) is investigated by taking into account the strong spin-orbit coupling and trigonal crystal field effect. It is found that the trigonal crystal field effect, which is always present in real systems, may destabilize the topological insulator proposed for the ideal cubic crystal field, leading to a metallic ground state. Thus the trigonal crystal field is an important control parameter for the metal-insulator changeover. We propose that this could be one of the reasons why distinct low temperature ground states may arise for the pyrochlore iridates with different A-site ions. On the other hand, examining the electron-lattice coupling, we find that softening of the $\text{q}$=0 modes corresponding to trigonal or tetragonal distortions of the Ir pyrochlore lattice leads to the resurrection of the strong topological insulator. Thus, in principle, a finite temperature transition to a low-temperature topological insulator can occur via structural changes. We also suggest that the application of the external pressure along [111] or its equivalent directions would be the most efficient way of generating strong topological insulators in pyrochlore iridates.

10 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables

References in corpus (24)

• Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum Wells
• Quantum Spin Hall Insulator State in HgTe Quantum Wells
• Topological Insulators with Inversion Symmetry
• Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
• A topological Dirac insulator in a quantum spin Hall phase : Experimental observation of first strong topological insulator
• First observation of Spin-Momentum Helical Locking in Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3, demonstration of Topological-Order at 300K and a realization of topological-transport-regime
• Novel Jeff = 1/2 Mott State Induced by Relativistic Spin-Orbit Coupling in Sr2IrO4
• The quantum spin Hall effect and topological insulators
• Mott physics and band topology in materials with strong spin-orbit interaction
• Three dimensional topological invariants for time reversal invariant Hamiltonians and the three dimensional quantum spin Hall effect
• Time Reversal Polarization and a Z_2 Adiabatic Spin Pump
• Spin-Liquid State in the S = 1/2 Hyperkagome Antiferromagnet Na4Ir3O8
• Quantum spin Hall effect in a transition metal oxide Na2IrO3
• On the $Z_2$ classification of Quantum Spin Hall Models
• Three-dimensional Topological Insulators on the Pyrochlore Lattice
• Spin-orbit effects in Na${}_4$Ir${}_3$O${}_8$, a hyper-kagomé lattice antiferromagnet
• Gapless spin liquids on the three dimensional hyper-kagome lattice of Na${}_4$Ir${}_3$O${}_8$
• Topological spin liquid on the hyper-kagome lattice of Na_4Ir_3O_8
• Na4Ir3O8 as a 3D spin liquid with fermionic spinons
• Classical antiferromagnet on a hyperkagome lattice
• The crucial importance of the $t_{2g}$--$e_g$ hybridization in transition metal oxides
• A Fractionalized Quantum Spin Hall Effect
• Pressure-Induced Insulating State in Ba1-xRExIrO3 (RE = Gd, Eu) Single Crystals
• Electronic Structure of Hyperkagome Na4Ir3O8

Cited by in corpus (156)

• Topological insulators and superconductors
• Electronic Structure of Pyrochlore Iridates: From Topological Dirac Metal to Mott Insulator
• Topological Insulator Materials
• Colloquium: Topological Band Theory
• Correlated quantum phenomena in the strong spin-orbit regime
• Quantum Hall effects in a Weyl Semi-Metal: possible application in pyrochlore Iridates
• Local unitary transformation, long-range quantum entanglement, wave function renormalization, and topological order
• Twisted Hubbard Model for Sr2IrO4: Magnetism and Possible High Temperature Superconductivity
• Topological and magnetic phases of interacting electrons in the pyrochlore iridates
• Direct evidence of a zigzag spin chain structure in the honeycomb lattice: A neutron and x-ray diffraction investigation on single crystal $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}_2\mathrm{Ir}{\mathrm{O}}_3$
• Semimetal and Topological Insulator in Perovskite Iridates
• Non-Fermi liquid and topological states with strong spin-orbit coupling
• Spin-Orbit Coupling in Iridium-Based 5d Compounds Probed by X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy
• A theory of Topological Kondo Insulators
• Quantum transport in Rashba spin-orbit materials: A review
• Possible proximity of the Mott insulating Iridate Na2IrO3 to a topological phase: Phase diagram of the Heisenberg-Kitaev model in a magnetic field
• Engineering spin-orbital magnetic insulator by tailoring superlattices
• Kitaev-Heisenberg-J2-J3 model for the iridates A2IrO3
• The Challenge of Spin-Orbit-Tuned Ground States in Iridates
• Landau Level Quantization and Almost Flat Modes in Three-dimensional Semi-metals with Nodal Ring Spectra
• Surfaces of Axion Insulators
• Signatures of a Pressure-Induced Topological Quantum Phase Transition in BiTeI
• Recent progress on correlated electron systems with strong spin-orbit coupling
• Long-range Coulomb interaction in nodal-ring semimetals
• Correlation effects on 3D topological phases: from bulk to boundary
• Computational Design of Axion Insulators Based on 5d Spinels Compounds
• Strain Induced Ferroelectric Topological Insulator
• Superconductivity in three-dimensional spin-orbit coupled semimetals
• Continuous Transition between Antiferromagnetic Insulator and Paramagnetic Metal in the Pyrochlore Iridate Eu2Ir2O7
• Competing Exotic Topological Insulator Phases in Transition Metal Oxides on the Pyrochlore Lattice with Distortion
• Pressure Tuned Insulator to Metal Transition in Eu${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$
• Topological Crystalline Insulators in Transition Metal Oxides
• Topological phases and phase transitions on the square-octagon lattice
• Magnetic field-induced insulator-semimetal transition in a pyrochlore Nd2Ir2O7
• Emergent topological phenomena in thin films of pyrochlore iridates
• Metal-insulator transition and topological properties of pyrochlore iridates
• All-in all-out magnetic order and propagating spin-waves in Sm2Ir2O7
• Heisenberg-Kitaev model on hyperhoneycomb lattice
• Topological Quantum Phase Transition in 5$d$ Transition Metal Oxide Na${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Pyrochlore electrons under pressure, heat and field: shedding light on the iridates
• Slater to Mott crossover in the metal to insulator transition of Nd2Ir2O7
• A structural distortion induced magneto-elastic locking in Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ revealed through nonlinear optical harmonic generation
• Direct observation of the Dirac nodes lifting in semimetallic perovskite SrIrO3 thin films
• Enhanced weak ferromagnetism and conductivity in hole-doped pyrochlore iridate Y2Ir2O7
• Dimensionality controlled Mott transition and correlation effects in single- and bi-layer perovskite iridates
• Phase diagram of pyrochlore iridates: all-in-all-out magnetic ordering and non-Fermi liquid properties
• Spin-Orbital Locking, Emergent Pseudo-Spin, and Magnetic order in Honeycomb Lattice Iridates
• Theory of Magnetic Phase Diagrams in Hyperhoneycomb and Harmonic-honeycomb Iridates
• Topological Insulators from Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking Induced by Electron Correlation on Pyrochlore Lattices
• Topological states in pyrochlore iridates: long-range anisotropy strongly competing with spin-orbit interaction
• Route Towards Dirac and Weyl Antiferromagnetic Spintronics
• Direct Evidence for the 'All-in/All-out' Magnetic Structure in the Pyrochlore Iridates from $\mu$SR
• Mott Physics on Helical Edges of 2D Topological Insulators
• Magnetic state of pyrochlore Cd2Os2O7 emerging from strong competition of ligand distortions and longer-range crystalline anisotropy
• Topological Magnon Bands and Unconventional Superconductivity in Pyrochlore Iridate Thin Films
• Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering on Spin-Orbit Coupled Insulating Iridates
• Double perovskite heterostructures: Magnetism, Chern bands, and Chern insulators
• Theory of a quantum critical phenomenon in a topological insulator: (3+1)-dimensional quantum electrodynamics in solids
• Theory of magnetism and metal-insulator transition in layered perovskite iridates
• Ab initio determination of excitation energies and magnetic couplings in correlated, quasi two-dimensional iridates
• Magnetic monopole condensation in pyrochlore ice quantum spin liquid: application to Pr2Ir2O7 and Yb2Ti2O7
• Mott Variable Range Hopping and Weak Antilocalization Effect in Heteroepitaxial Na2IrO3 Thin Films
• Metallic ferroelectricity induced by anisotropic unscreened coulomb interaction in LiOsO3
• Topological phases in layered pyrochlore oxide thin films along the [111] direction
• Strong magnetic instability in correlated metal Bi2Ir2O7
• X-ray scattering study of pyrochlore iridates: crystal structure, electronic and magnetic excitations
• Pressure-tuning of bond-directional exchange interactions and magnetic frustration in hyperhoneycomb iridate $\beta$-$\mathrm{L}{\mathrm{i}}_2\mathrm{Ir}{\mathrm{O}}_3$
• Pressure and magnetic-field effects on metal-insulator transitions of bulk and domain-wall states in pyrochlore iridates
• Spectroscopic evidence for polaronic behaviour of the strong spin-orbit insulator Sr${}_3$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$
• Interplay of many-body and single-particle interactions in iridates and rhodates
• Comparative studies of low temperature X-ray diffraction experiments on R2Ir2O7 (R = Nd, Eu, and Pr)
• Electronic structure and magnetic properties of NaOsO${}_3$
• Lattice distortion effects on topological phases in (LaNiO${}_3$)${}_2$/(LaAlO${}_3$)${}_N$ heterostructures grown along the [111] direction
• RKKY interactions and anomalous Hall effect in metallic rare-earth pyrochlores
• Spin ordering and electronic texture in the bilayer iridate Sr${}_3$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$
• Entanglement Entropy and Spectra of the One-dimensional Kugel-Khomskii Model
• Weyl semimetal from spontaneous inversion symmetry breaking in pyrochlore oxides
• Evolution of structure, magnetism and electronic transport in doped pyrochlore iridate Y${}_2$Ir${}_{2-x}$Ru${}_x$O${}_7$
• Interplay between Lattice Distortion and Spin-Orbit Coupling in Double Perovskites
• Epitaxial thin films of pyrochlore iridate Bi_{2+x}Ir_{2-y}O_{7-delta}: structure, defects and transport properties
• Unusual magnetic phases in the strong interaction limit of two-dimensional topological band insulators in transition metal oxides
• Gauge-field fluctuations in 3D topological Mott insulators
• New Honeycomb Iridium (V) Oxides: NaIrO${}_3$ and Sr${}_3$CaIr${}_2$O${}_9$
• Perspective: Strongly correlated and topological states in [111] grown transition metal oxide thin films and heterostructures
• NaSrMn2F7, NaCaFe2F7, and NaSrFe2F7: novel single crystal pyrochlore antiferromagnets
• From a quasimolecular band insulator to a relativistic Mott insulator in $t_{2g}^5$ systems with a honeycomb lattice structure
• All-in-all-out magnetic domain wall conduction in pyrochlore iridate heterointerface
• High-pressure versus isoelectronic doping effect on the honeycomb iridate Na${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Bulk Signatures of Pressure-Induced Band Inversion and Topological Phase Transitions in Pb${}_{1-x}$Sn${}_x$Se
• Topological Insulators and Quantum Spin Liquids
• Topological Properties and Functionalities in Oxide Thin Films and Interfaces
• Dilute stuffing in the pyrochlore iridate $E{u}_{2}I{r}_2{O}_7$
• Influence of structural distortions on the Ir magnetism in Ba2-xSrxYIrO6 double perovskites
• Non-collinear magnetic structure and multipolar order in Eu${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$
• $J_{eff}=1/2$ Mott Insulating State in Rh and Ir Fluorides
• Microscopic theory of magnetism in Sr3Ir2O7
• Magnetic excitation spectra in pyrochlore iridates
• A new exotic state in an old material: A tale of Samarium Hexaboride
• First-principles study on cubic pyrochlore iridates Y2Ir2O7 and Pr2Ir2O7
• Observation of non-Fermi liquid behavior in hole doped Eu2Ir2O7
• Field Theory of Nematicity in the Spontaneous Quantum Anomalous Hall effect
• Correlation effects in pyrochlore iridate thin films grown along the $[111]$ direction
• Spontaneous Hall Effect enhanced by local Ir moments in epitaxial Pr${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ thin films
• Pr${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$: when Luttinger semimetal meets Melko-Hertog-Gingras spin ice state
• The electronic structure of NaIrO${}_3$, Mott insulator or band insulator?
• Orbital ordering of Ir-t2g states in the double perovskite Sr2CeIrO6
• Topological d+s wave superconductors in a multi-orbital quadratic band touching system
• Kitaev Magnetism and Fractionalized Excitations in Double Perovskite Sm2ZnIrO6
• Weak magnetic transitions in pyrochlore Bi2Ir2O7
• Spin-phonon coupling in hole-doped pyrochlore iridates Y${}_2$(Ir${}_{1-x}$Ru${}_x$)${}_2$O${}_7$: A Raman scattering study
• Magnetic and transport properties in pyrochlore iridates (Y${}_{1-x}$Pr${}_x$)${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$: The role of $f$-$d$ exchange interaction and $d$-$p$ orbital hybridization
• Structural and magnetic properties of the 5$d^2$ double perovskites Sr${}_{2}B$ReO${}_6$ ($B$ $=$ Y, In)
• A new material for probing spin-orbit coupling in Iridates
• Modulated Helical Metals at Magnetic Domain Walls of Pyrochlore Iridium Oxides
• Topological edge Mott insulating state in two dimensions at finite temperatures -bulk and edge analysis-
• Colossal enhancement of electrical conductivity in Y2Ir2O7 nanoparticles
• Theory of Multifarious Quantum Phases and Large Anomalous Hall effect in Pyrochlore Iridate Thin Films
• The role of spin-orbit coupling in the electronic structure of IrO${}_2$
• The interplay between structural, magnetic and electronic states in the pyrochlore iridate Eu2Ir2O7
• Possibility to realize spin-orbit-induced correlated physics in iridium fluorides
• Topological Phases in Oxide Heterostructures with Light and Heavy Transition Metal Ions
• Coexistence of high electrical conductivity and weak ferromagnetism in Cr doped Y${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ pyrochlore iridate
• Quantum spin Hall effect in rutile-based oxide multilayers
• Topological and magnetic phases with strong spin-orbit coupling on the hyperhoneycomb lattice
• Spin correlated electronic state on the surface of a spin-orbit Mott system (Layered Iridates)
• Hole Spin Helix: Anomalous Spin Diffusion in Anisotropic Strained Hole Quantum Wells
• Na4IrO4: Square-Planar Coordination of a Transition Metal in d5 Configuration due to Weak On-Site Coulomb Interactions
• Quantum oscillations in the Luttinger model with quadratic band touching: applications to pyrochlore iridates
• Role of spin-phonon and electron-phonon interactions in phonon renormalization of (Eu${}_{1-x}$Bi${}_x$)${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ across the metal-insulator phase transition: Temperature-dependent Raman and X-ray studies
• Compass and Kitaev models -- Theory and Physical Motivations
• Evidence of density waves in single crystalline nanowires of Pyrochlore Iridates
• Suppression of long range magnetic ordering and electrical conduction in Y${}_{1.7}$Bi${}_{0.3}$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ thin film
• Emergent quantum phases in a frustrated J1-J2 Heisenberg model on hyperhoneycomb lattice
• Disordered topological metals
• Longitudinal Spin Seebeck effect in Pyrochlore Iridates with Bulk and Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction
• Ab initio study of nontrivial topological phases in corundum structured $($M${}_2$O${}_3)/($Al${}_2$O${}_3{)}_5$ multilayers
• Experimental signatures of 3d fractional topological insulators
• Nonmagnetic substitution in pyrochlore iridate Y${}_2$(Ir${}_{1-x}$Ti${}_x$)${}_2$O${}_7$: Structure, magnetism and electronic properties
• Investigation of the complex magnetism in the breathing pyrochlore LiIn(Cr${}_{1-x}$Rh${}_x$)${}_4$O${}_8$
• Electron Correlation Effects on Topological Phases
• Correlated Paramagnetism and Interplay of Magnetic and Phononic Degrees of Freedom in 3d-5d Coupled La2CuIrO6
• Optical gyrotropy in quadrupolar Kondo systems
• Evolution of magnetic and transport properties in Cu doped pyrochlore iridate Eu2(Ir1-xCux)2O7
• Phase Diagram Structure of Topological Mott Transition for Zero-gap Semiconductors beyond Conventional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson Scenario
• Interplay between spin-orbit coupling and crystal-field effect in topological insulators
• Microscopic theory of Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction in pyrochlore oxides with spin-orbit coupling
• Topological property of a $t_{2g}^5$ system with a honeycomb lattice structure
• Pyrochlore Oxide Hg2Os2O7 on Verge of Metal-Insulator Boundary
• Weak antilocalization and localization in Eu${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ (111) thin films by reactive solid phase epitaxy
• Traversing the pyrochlore stability diagram; microwave-assisted synthesis and discovery of mixed B-site Ln${}_2$InSbO${}_7$ family
• Metal-insulator transitions in pyrochlore oxides
• Electron quasi-itinerancy intertwined with quantum order by disorder in pyrochlore iridate magnetism
• Spontaneous Hall effect induced by strain in Pr${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ epitaxial thin films
• Crystal growth and magnetic anisotropy in the spin-chain ruthenate Na${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Correlated Hopf insulators
• Intersite Coulomb repulsion driven quadrupole instability and magnetic ordering in the orbital frustrated Ba${}_2$MgReO${}_6$