Unconventional magnetic order on the hyperhoneycomb Kitaev lattice in $\beta$-Li2IrO3: full solution via magnetic resonant x-ray diffraction

Abstract

The recently-synthesized iridate $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$ has been proposed as a candidate to display novel magnetic behavior stabilized by frustration effects from bond-dependent, anisotropic interactions (Kitaev model) on a three-dimensional "hyperhoneycomb" lattice. Here we report a combined study using neutron powder diffraction and magnetic resonant x-ray diffraction to solve the complete magnetic structure. We find a complex, incommensurate magnetic order with non-coplanar and counter-rotating Ir moments, which surprisingly shares many of its features with the related structural polytype "stripyhoneycomb" $\gamma$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$, where dominant Kitaev interactions have been invoked to explain the stability of the observed magnetic structure. The similarities of behavior between those two structural polytypes, which have different global lattice topologies but the same local connectivity, is strongly suggestive that the same magnetic interactions and the same underlying mechanism governs the stability of the magnetic order in both materials, indicating that both $\beta$- and $\gamma$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$ are strong candidates to realize dominant Kitaev interactions in a solid state material.

14 pages, 9 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Mott Insulators in the Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling Limit: From Heisenberg to a Quantum Compass and Kitaev Models
• Long range magnetic ordering in Na${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Non-coplanar and counter-rotating incommensurate magnetic order stabilized by Kitaev interactions in $\gamma$-Li2IrO3
• Robustness of basal-plane antiferromagnetic order and the $J_{eff}=1/2$ state in single-layer iridate spin-orbit Mott insulators

Cited by in corpus (54)

• Models and Materials for Generalized Kitaev Magnetism
• Hyper-honeycomb iridate $\beta$-Li2IrO3 as a platform for Kitaev magnetism
• Experimental identification of quantum spin liquids
• Orbital effects in solids: basics, recent progress and opportunities
• Hidden symmetries of the extended Kitaev-Heisenberg model: Implications for honeycomb lattice iridates A2IrO3
• Magnetization processes of zigzag states on the honeycomb lattice: Identifying spin models for $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ and Na${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Raman spectroscopic signature of fractionalized excitations in the harmonic-honeycomb iridates $\beta$- and $\gamma$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Weyl spin liquids
• Theory of Magnetic Phase Diagrams in Hyperhoneycomb and Harmonic-honeycomb Iridates
• Geometrical frustration versus Kitaev interactions in BaCo${}_2$(AsO${}_4$)${}_2$
• Unified theory of spiral magnetism in the harmonic-honeycomb iridates α, β, γ Li2IrO3
• Beyond Kitaev physics in strong spin-orbit coupled magnets
• Semiclassical ground-state phase diagram and multi-Q phase of a spin-orbit coupled model on triangular lattice
• Magnon damping in the zigzag phase of the Kitaev-Heisenberg-$\Gamma$ model on a honeycomb lattice
• Magnetoelastic coupling and effects of uniaxial strain in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ from first principles
• Revisiting the Kitaev material candidacy of Ir4+ double perovskite iridates
• Revealing frustrated local moment model for pressurized hyperhoneycomb iridate: paving a way toward quantum spin liquid
• Functional renormalization group study of the Kitaev-$\Gamma$ model on the honeycomb lattice and emergent incommensurate magnetic correlations
• Symmetry Enrichment in Three-Dimensional Topological Phases
• High-resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study of the electron-phonon coupling in honeycomb $\alpha$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Probing spinon nodal structures in three-dimensional Kitaev spin liquids
• Kitaev magnetism through the prism of lithium iridate
• Spin interaction and magnetism in cobaltate Kitaev candidate materials: an $ab$ $initio$ and model Hamiltonian approach
• Magnon-spinon dichotomy in the Kitaev hyperhoneycomb $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Spin-orbit effects in pentavalent Iridates: Models and materials
• The Saga of $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$: Parameters, Models, and Phase Diagrams
• Electronic excitations in $\gamma$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra in the hyperhoneycomb iridate $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$: First principles calculations
• Comparing the influence of Floquet dynamics in various Kitaev-Heisenberg materials
• Interplay of magnetism and dimerization in pressurized Kitaev material $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Magnetic Excitations and Interactions in the Kitaev Hyperhoneycomb Iridate $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Phases and Quantum Phase Transitions in an Anisotropic Ferromagnetic Kitaev-Heisenberg-$\Gamma$ Magnet
• Reentrant incommensurate order and anomalous magnetic torque in the Kitaev magnet $\beta$-${\text{Li}}_2{\text{IrO}}_3$
• Optical magnons with dominant bond-directional exchange interactions in a honeycomb lattice iridate $\alpha$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Unconventional magnetic field response of the hyperhoneycomb Kitaev magnet $\beta -{\text{Li}}_2{\text{IrO}}_3$
• Thermal conductivity of local moment models with strong spin-orbit coupling
• Lattice dynamics and structural transition of the hyperhoneycomb iridate $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$ investigated by high-pressure Raman scattering
• Quantum paramagnetism in the hyperhoneycomb Kitaev magnet $\beta$-ZnIrO${}_3$
• Stabilization of a honeycomb lattice of IrO${}_6$ octahedra in superlattices with ilmenite-type MnTiO${}_3$
• The honeycomb and hyperhoneycomb polymorphs of IrI${}_3$
• Ground-State Phase Diagram of the Kitaev-Heisenberg Model on a Three-dimensional Hyperhoneycomb Lattice
• Signatures of non-Loudon-Fleury Raman scattering in the Kitaev magnet $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Magnetism and electrical transport in Y-doped layered iridate Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$
• Kernel Polynomial Method for Linear Spin Wave Theory
• From chiral d-wave to nodal line superconductivity in the harmonic honeycomb lattices
• Soft-Chemical Synthesis, Structure Evolution, and Insulator-to-Metal Transition in a Prototypical Metal Oxide, λ-RhO${}_2$
• Emergence of bond-dependent highly anisotropic magnetic interactions in Sr${}_4$RhO${}_6$: a theoretical study
• Signatures of fractionalization in the optical phonons of hyperhoneycomb Kitaev magnet $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Antiferromagnetic order in a layered magnetic topological insulator MnBi${}_2$Se${}_4$ probed by resonant soft x-ray scattering
• Novel electronic state of honeycomb iridate Cu${}_2$IrO${}_3$ at high pressure
• Computational exploration of a viable route to Kitaev-quantum spin liquid phase in OsCl${}_3$
• Field-induced phase transitions in the Kitaev-Heisenberg model: A sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo study and possible application to $\alpha$-RuCl3
• Collapse of susceptibility and non-trivial spin dynamics in the hyper-honeycomb magnet $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$ under high pressure
• Non-Loudon-Fleury Raman scattering in spin-orbit coupled Mott insulators