Complex magnetic order in nickelate slabs

Abstract

Magnetic ordering phenomena have a profound influence on the macroscopic properties of correlated-electron materials, but their realistic prediction remains a formidable challenge. An archetypical example is the ternary nickel oxide system RNiO3 (R = rare earth), where the period-four magnetic order with proposals of collinear and non-collinear structures and the amplitude of magnetic moments on different Ni sublattices have been subjects of debate for decades. Here we introduce an elementary model system - NdNiO3 slabs embedded in a non-magnetic NdGaO3 matrix - and use polarized resonant x-ray scattering (RXS) to show that both collinear and non-collinear magnetic structures can be realized, depending on the slab thickness. The crossover between both spin structures is correctly predicted by density functional theory and can be qualitatively understood in a low-energy spin model. We further demonstrate that the amplitude ratio of magnetic moments in neighboring NiO6 octahedra can be accurately determined by RXS in combination with a correlated double cluster model. Targeted synthesis of model systems with controlled thickness and synergistic application of polarized RXS and ab-initio theory thus provide new perspectives for research on complex magnetism, in analogy to two-dimensional materials created by exfoliation.

This is the accepted version of the manuscript. The revised manuscript according to peer reviews was published online in Nature Physics on July 23, 2018

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Cited by in corpus (24)

• Electronic structure of rare-earth infinite-layer ReNiO2 (Re=La, Nd)
• Correlation-driven eightfold magnetic anisotropy in a two-dimensional oxide monolayer
• Antiferromagnetic metal phase in an electron-doped rare-earth nickelate
• Resolving the Electronic Ground State of La3Ni2O7-δ Films
• Soft X-ray Spectroscopy of Low-Valence Nickelates
• Sudden collapse of magnetic order in oxygen deficient nickelate films
• A Nickelate Renaissance
• Structurally assisted melting of excitonic correlations in 1T-TiSe2
• Anisotropic Spin Stripe Domains in Bilayer La${}_3$Ni${}_2$O${}_7$
• Phase formation in hole- and electron-doped rare-earth nickelate single crystals
• Hybridization driving distortions and multiferroicity in rare-earth nickelates
• Control of the metal-insulator transition in NdNiO${}_3$ thin films through the interplay between structural and electronic properties
• Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study of bond order and spin excitations in nickelate thin-film structures
• Investigation of spin excitations and charge order in bulk crystals of the infinite-layer nickelate LaNiO${}_2$
• Topotactically induced oxygen vacancy order in nickelate single crystals
• Negative charge transfer energy in correlated compounds
• Emergent c-axis magnetic helix in manganite-nickelate superlattices
• Probing photo-induced rearrangements in the NdNiO${}_3$ magnetic spiral with polarization-sensitive ultrafast resonant soft x-ray scattering
• Interplay between breathing-mode distortions and magnetic order in rare-earth nickelates from $ab$ $initio$ magnetic models
• Magnetism and berry phase manipulation in an emergent structure of perovskite ruthenate by (111) strain engineering
• Interplay between electron correlations, magnetic state, and structural confinement in LaNiO3 ultrathin films
• Entropy and specific heat of the infinite-dimensional three-orbital Hubbard model
• Signatures of polarized chiral spin disproportionation in rare earth nickelates
• Probing electronic and magnetic transitions of short periodic nickelate superlattices using synchrotron x-ray