The magnetic and crystal structures of Sr2IrO4: A neutron diffraction study

Abstract

We report a single-crystal neutron diffraction study of the layered $\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{r}}_2\mathrm{Ir}{\mathrm{O}}_4$. This work unambiguously determines the magnetic structure of the system and reveals that the spin orientation rigidly tracks the staggered rotation of the $\mathrm{Ir}{\mathrm{O}}_6$ octahedra in $\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{r}}_2\mathrm{Ir}{\mathrm{O}}_4$. The long-range antiferromagnetic order has a canted spin configuration with an ordered moment of 0.208(3) ${\mu }_B$/Ir site within the basal plane; a detailed examination of the spin canting yields 0.202(3) and 0.049(2) ${\mu }_B$/site for the a axis and the b axis, respectively. It is intriguing that forbidden nuclear reflections of space group $I{4}_1/acd$ are also observed in a wide temperature range from 4 K to 600 K, which suggests a reduced crystal structure symmetry. This neutron-scattering work provides a direct, well-refined experimental characterization of the magnetic and crystal structures that are crucial to the understanding of the unconventional magnetism exhibited in this unusual magnetic insulator.

the version appeared in PRB

References in corpus (8)

• Mott Insulators in the Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling Limit: From Heisenberg to a Quantum Compass and Kitaev Models
• Novel Jeff = 1/2 Mott State Induced by Relativistic Spin-Orbit Coupling in Sr2IrO4
• Spin-Liquid State in the S = 1/2 Hyperkagome Antiferromagnet Na4Ir3O8
• Twisted Hubbard Model for Sr2IrO4: Magnetism and Possible High Temperature Superconductivity
• Quantum spin Hall effect in a transition metal oxide Na2IrO3
• Spin-orbit tuned metal-insulator transitions in single-crystal Sr2Ir1-xRhxO4 (0\leqx\leq1)
• Neutron scattering study of correlated phase behavior in Sr2IrO4
• Na4Ir3O8 as a 3D spin liquid with fermionic spinons

Cited by in corpus (26)

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• Square Lattice Iridates
• A structural distortion induced magneto-elastic locking in Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ revealed through nonlinear optical harmonic generation
• Giant anisotropic magnetoresistance and nonvolatile memory in canted antiferromagnet Sr2IrO4
• Anisotropic magnetoresistance in antiferromagnetic Sr2IrO4
• Temperature evolution of magnetic and transport behavior in 5\textit{d} Mott insulator Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$: Significance of magneto-structural coupling
• Electrical Control of Structural and Physical Properties via Strong Spin-Orbit Interactions in Sr2IrO4
• Unidirectional spin density wave state in metallic (Sr1-xLax)2IrO4
• Doping Evolution of Magnetic Order and Magnetic Excitations in (Sr${}_{1-x}$La${}_x$)${}_3$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$
• A Low Temperature Nonlinear Optical Rotational Anisotropy Spectrometer for the Determination of Crystallographic and Electronic Symmetries
• Soft antiphase tilt of oxygen octahedra in the hybrid improper multiferroic Ca3Mn1.9Ti0.1O7
• Effect of Cu${}^{2+}$ substitution in Spin-Orbit Coupled Sr${}_2$Ir${}_{1-x}$Cu${}_x$O${}_4$: Structure, magnetism and electronic properties
• Spectral functions of Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$: theory versus experiment
• Dual gate control of bulk transport and magnetism in the spin-orbit insulator Sr2IrO4
• Fermi arcs, pseudogap and collective excitations in doped Sr2IrO4: A generalized fluctuation exchange study
• Evidence for ordered magnetic moments at oxygen sites in antiferromagnetic Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ and Sr${}_3$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$
• Structural evolution and electronic properties of (Sr1-xCax)2-yIrO4+z spin-orbit assisted insulators
• High-energy electronic excitations in Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ observed by Raman scattering
• Crystal structure and physical properties of the Sr-vacant spin-orbit-coupling induced Mott insulator Sr2-xIrO4
• Compass Impurity Model of Tb Substitution in Sr2IrO4
• Doping driven structural distortion in the bilayer iridate (Sr${}_{1-x}$La${}_x$)${}_3$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$
• Insight into the magnetic behavior of Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$:A spontaneous magnetization study
• Hallmarks of the Mott-Metal Crossover in the Hole Doped J=1/2 Mott insulator Sr2IrO4
• Microscopic and Spectroscopic Evidence for a Slater Metal-Insulator Transition in Sr2IrO4