Optical anisotropy of the Jeff = 1/2 Mott insulator Sr2IrO4

Abstract

We report the complex dielectric function along and perpendicular to the IrO2 planes in the layered perovskite Sr2IrO4 determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the spectral range from 12 meV to 6 eV. Thin high quality single crystals were stacked to measure the c-axis optical conductivity. In the phonon response we identified 10 infrared-active modes polarized within the basal plane and only four modes polarized along the c-axis, in full agreement with first-principle lattice dynamics calculations. We also observed a strong optical anisotropy in the near-infrared spectra arising from direct transitions between Ir 5d t2g Jeff = 1/2 and Jeff = 3/2 bands, which transition probability is highly suppressed for light polarized along the c-axis. The spectra are analyzed and discussed in terms of relativistic LSDA+U band structure calculations.

arXiv comment9 pages, 7 figures

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Cited by in corpus (14)

• Relativistic $GW$+BSE study of the optical properties of Ruddlesden-Popper iridates
• Raman scattering study of vibrational and magnetic excitations in Sr${}_{2-x}$La${}_x$IrO${}_4$
• First-Principles Calculation of Spin and Orbital Contributions to Magnetically Ordered Moments in Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$
• Spectral functions of Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$: theory versus experiment
• First-order structural transition and pressure-induced lattice/phonon anomalies in Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$
• Almost pure $J_{\mathrm{eff}}=1/2$ Mott state of In${}_2$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ in the limit of reduced inter-site hopping
• Non-local Coulomb correlations in pure and electron-doped ${\mathrm{Sr}}_2{\mathrm{IrO}}_4$: spectral functions, Fermi surface and pseudogap-like spectral weight distributions from oriented cluster dynamical mean field theory
• Optical Signature of a Crossover from Mott- to Slater-type Gap in Sr${}_2$Ir${}_{1-x}$Rh${}_x$O${}_4$
• Mott transition and collective charge pinning in electron doped Sr2IrO4
• Momentum-resolved lattice dynamics of parent and electron-doped Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$
• Evidence of Slater-type mechanism as origin of insulating state in Sr2IrO4
• Spin-polaron ladder spectrum of the spin-orbit-induced Mott insulator Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ probed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy
• Magneto-synthesis effect on magnetic order, phonons, and magnons in single-crystal Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$
• First-principles design of the spinel iridate Ir2O4 for high-temperature quantum spin ice