$\alpha$-RuCl3: a Spin-Orbit Assisted Mott Insulator on a Honeycomb Lattice

Abstract

We examine the role of spin-orbit coupling in the electronic structure of $\alpha$-RuCl3, in which Ru ions in 4d5 configuration form a honeycomb lattice. The measured optical spectra exhibit a clear optical gap and excitations within the t2g orbitals. The spectra can be described very well with first-principles electronic structure calculations obtained by taking into account both spin orbit coupling and electron correlations. Furthermore, our X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements at the Ru L-edges exhibit distinct spectral features associated with the presence of substantial spin- orbit coupling, as well as an anomalously large branching ratio. We propose that $\alpha$-RuCl3 is a spin-orbit assisted Mott insulator, and the bond-dependent Kitaev interaction may be relevant for this compound.

5 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (9)

• 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
• On the Origin of Zigzag Magnetic Order in Iridium Oxide Na2IrO3
• Quantum spin Hall effect in a transition metal oxide Na2IrO3
• Long range magnetic ordering in Na${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Crystal field splitting and correlation effect on the electronic structure of A2IrO3
• Na2IrO3 as a spin-orbit-assisted antiferromagnetic insulator with a 340 meV gap
• Gapless spin liquids on the three dimensional hyper-kagome lattice of Na${}_4$Ir${}_3$O${}_8$

Cited by in corpus (95)

• Models and Materials for Generalized Kitaev Magnetism
• Scattering Continuum and Possible Fractionalized Excitations in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Magnetic order in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$: a honeycomb lattice quantum magnet with strong spin-orbit coupling
• Successive magnetic phase transitions in $\mathbf{\alpha }$-RuCl${}_3$: XY-like frustrated magnet on the honeycomb lattice
• Kitaev magnetism in honeycomb RuCl3 with intermediate spin-orbit coupling
• Experimental identification of quantum spin liquids
• Spin-wave excitations evidencing the Kitaev interaction in single crystalline $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Kitaev-Heisenberg Hamiltonian for High-Spin $d^7$ Mott Insulators
• Anisotropic Ru3+ 4d5 magnetism in the alpha-RuCl3 honeycomb system: susceptibility, specific heat and Zero field NMR
• Hidden symmetries of the extended Kitaev-Heisenberg model: Implications for honeycomb lattice iridates A2IrO3
• Magnetic Excitations and Continuum of a Field-Induced Quantum Spin Liquid in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Magnetization processes of zigzag states on the honeycomb lattice: Identifying spin models for $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ and Na${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Microscopic mechanism for higher-spin Kitaev model
• Honeycomb-lattice Heisenberg-Kitaev model in a magnetic field: Spin canting, metamagnetism, and vortex crystals
• Kitaev interactions in the Co honeycomb antiferromagnets Na${}_3$Co${}_2$SbO${}_6$ and Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$
• Magnetic anisotropy in the Kitaev model systems Na2IrO3 and RuCl3
• Theory of the field-revealed Kitaev spin liquid
• Raman spectroscopic signature of fractionalized excitations in the harmonic-honeycomb iridates $\beta$- and $\gamma$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Square Lattice Iridates
• Magnetic order in single crystals of Na3Co2SbO6 with a honeycomb arrangement of 3d${}^7$ Co${}^{2+}$ ions
• Thermodynamic Evidence of Proximity to a Kitaev Spin-Liquid in Ag${}_3$LiIr${}_2$O${}_6$
• Electronic Structure of the Kitaev Material $\alpha$-${\text{RuCl}}_3$ Probed by Photoemission and Inverse Photoemission Spectroscopies
• Optically Driven Magnetic Phase Transition of Monolayer RuCl3
• Identification of Magnetic Interactions and High-field Quantum Spin Liquid in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Ba2NiOsO6: A Dirac-Mott insulator with ferromagnetism near 100 K
• High-pressure magnetization and NMR studies on $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Kitaev-like honeycomb magnets: Global phase behavior and emergent effective models
• Functional-renormalization-group analysis of Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya and Heisenberg spin interactions on the kagome lattice
• Thermodynamic and Transport Properties in Disordered Kitaev Models
• Nature of Magnetic Excitations in the High-Field Phase of $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Observation of spin-orbit excitations and Hund's multiplets in Ca${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• J-freezing and Hund's rules in spin-orbit-coupled multiorbital Hubbard models
• Electronic and phonon excitations in α-RuCl${}_3$
• High-temperature magnetostructural transition in van der Waals-layered a-MoCl3
• Magnon damping in the zigzag phase of the Kitaev-Heisenberg-$\Gamma$ model on a honeycomb lattice
• CaMn${}_2$Sb${}_2$: Spin waves on a frustrated antiferromagnetic honeycomb lattice
• Giant thermal magnetoconductivity in CrCl${}_3$ and a general model for spin-phonon scattering
• Revisiting the Kitaev material candidacy of Ir4+ double perovskite iridates
• Thermal transport in a two-dimensional ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ spin liquid
• Temperature evolution of spin dynamics in two- and three-dimensional Kitaev models: Influence of fluctuating gauge fluxes
• Floquet engineering of Mott insulators with strong spin-orbit coupling
• Revealing frustrated local moment model for pressurized hyperhoneycomb iridate: paving a way toward quantum spin liquid
• Significant thermal Hall effect in the 3$d$ cobalt Kitaev system $N{a}_{2}C{o}_{2}Te{O}_6$
• Rare-earth chalcohalides: A family of van der Waals layered Kitaev spin liquid candidates
• Effect of structural disorder on the Kitaev magnet Ag${}_3$LiIr${}_2$O${}_6$
• $J_{eff}=1/2$ Mott Insulating State in Rh and Ir Fluorides
• Ground-state phase diagram of spin-$S$ Kitaev-Heisenberg models
• Universal Thermodynamics in the Kitaev Fractional Liquid
• Gapless triangular-lattice spin-liquid candidate in PrZnAl${}_{11}$O${}_{19}$
• Probing spinon nodal structures in three-dimensional Kitaev spin liquids
• Putative spin liquid in the triangle-based iridate Ba${}_3$IrTi${}_2$O${}_9$
• Susceptibility anisotropy and its disorder evolution in models for Kitaev materials
• Nearly itinerant electronic groundstate in the intercalated honeycomb iridate Ag${}_3$LiIr${}_2$O${}_6$
• Ferromagnetic cluster-glass phase in Ca(Co,Ir)2As2 crystals
• Quantum robustness and phase transitions of the 3D Toric Code in a field
• Electronic and magnetic properties of iridium ilmenites $A$IrO${}_3$ ($A=$ Mg, Zn, and Mn)
• Thermal spin dynamics of Kitaev magnets $-$ scattering continua and magnetic field induced phases within a stochastic semiclassical approach
• Topological superconductivity in the extended Kitaev-Heisenberg model
• Evidence for magnetic fractional excitations in a Kitaev quantum-spin-liquid candidate $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Optical signature of the pressure-induced dimerization in the honeycomb iridate $\alpha$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Spectroscopic signatures of molecular orbitals on a honeycomb lattice
• Extent of frustration in the classical Kitaev-$\Gamma$ model via bond anisotropy
• Spin transport in the Quantum Spin Liquid State in the $S=1$ Kitaev model: role of the fractionalized quasiparticles
• Non-Kitaev spin liquids in Kitaev materials
• Hydrated lithium intercalation into the Kitaev spin liquid candidate material $\alpha -$RuCl${}_3$
• Gauge field entanglement of Kitaev's honeycomb model
• Density functional perturbation theory within non-collinear magnetism
• Neutron spectroscopy evidence for a possible magnetic-field-induced gapless quantum-spin-liquid phase in a Kitaev material $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Magnetic excitations in double perovskite iridates La${}_2$$M$IrO${}_6$ ($M$ = Co, Ni, and Zn) mediated by 3$d$-5$d$ hybridization
• Symmetry Analysis of Tensors in the Honeycomb Lattice of Edge-Sharing Octahedra
• First demonstration of tuning between the Kitaev and Ising limits in a honeycomb lattice
• Light-induced magnetization driven by interorbital charge motion in a spin-orbit assisted Mott insulator alpha-RuCl3
• Unconventional magnetic field response of the hyperhoneycomb Kitaev magnet $\beta -{\text{Li}}_2{\text{IrO}}_3$
• Lattice dynamics and structural transition of the hyperhoneycomb iridate $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$ investigated by high-pressure Raman scattering
• Incarnation of Majorana Fermions in Kitaev Quantum Spin Lattice
• Thermally enhanced Majorana-mediated spin transport in the Kitaev model
• The honeycomb and hyperhoneycomb polymorphs of IrI${}_3$
• Bound states of fractionalized excitations in a modulated Kitaev spin liquid
• Interplay of magnetic field and trigonal distortion in the honeycomb $\Gamma$ model: Occurrence of a spin-flop phase
• Role of disorder in the electronic and magnetic properties of Ag${}_3$LiIr${}_2$O${}_6$
• Polarization-dependent magnetic properties of periodically driven $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Projective-symmetry-group analysis of inelastic light scattering in Kitaev spin balls
• Pressure-induced transition from Jeff=1/2 to S=1/2 states in CuAl2O4
• Minimal models of $\alpha$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$: On the range of the interactions, ground state properties, and magnetization processes
• Orbitally-selective Breakdown of the Fermi Liquid and Simultaneous Enhancement of Metallic and Insulating States in Correlated Multi-band Systems with Spin-orbit Coupling
• A Layered Spin 1/2 polymorph of titanium triiodide
• Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ thin films heteroepitaxially grown on $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Electron quasi-itinerancy intertwined with quantum order by disorder in pyrochlore iridate magnetism
• Kitaev's exact solution approximated
• Coupled spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic chain Cs${}_2$LiRuCl${}_6$ with partially disordered crystal lattice
• Superconductivity at 12 K in La${}_2$IOs${}_2$: a 5d metal with osmium honeycomb layer
• Strategy to Extract Kitaev Interaction using Symmetry in Honeycomb Mott Insulators
• Non-Loudon-Fleury Raman scattering in spin-orbit coupled Mott insulators
• Formation of orbital molecules on a pyrochlore lattice induced by A-O bond covalency
• Nesting instability of gapless U(1) spin liquids with spinon Fermi pockets in two dimensions