Jahn-Teller effect in systems with strong on-site spin-orbit coupling

Abstract

When strong spin-orbit coupling removes orbital degeneracy, it would at the same time appear to render the Jahn-Teller mechanism ineffective. We discuss such a situation, the t_2g manifold of iridates, and show that, while the Jahn-Teller effect does indeed not affect the j_eff=1/2 antiferromagnetically ordered ground state, it leads to distinctive signatures in the j_eff=3/2 spin-orbit exciton. It allows for a hopping of the spin-orbit exciton between the nearest neighbor sites without producing defects in the j_eff=1/2 antiferromagnet. This arises because the lattice-driven Jahn-Teller mechanism only couples to the orbital degree of freedom, but is not sensitive to the phase of the wave function that defines isospin j_z. This contrasts sharply with purely electronic propagation, which conserves isospin, and presence of Jahn-Teller coupling can explain some of the peculiar features of measured resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra of Sr_2IrO_4.

9 pages, 6 figures including the supplementary material

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• Possibility to realize spin-orbit-induced correlated physics in iridium fluorides
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• Orbiton-Phonon coupling in Ir5+(5d4) double perovskite Ba2YIrO6
• Green's function variational approach to orbital polarons in KCuF3
• A coherent phonon-induced hidden quadrupolar ordered state in Ca${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Correlated Paramagnetism and Interplay of Magnetic and Phononic Degrees of Freedom in 3d-5d Coupled La2CuIrO6
• Influence of multiplet structure on photoemission spectra of spin-orbit driven Mott insulators: application to $\mathbf{S}{\mathbf{r}}_2\mathbf{Ir}{\mathbf{O}}_4$
• Spin-orbital-lattice entanglement in the ideal j=1/2 compound K${}_2$IrCl${}_6$
• Spinon-orbiton repulsion and attraction mediated by Hund's rule
• Evolution of electronic and magnetic properties of Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ under strain
• One-dimensional frustrated plaquette compass model: Nematic phase and spontaneous multimerization