Magnetic-order-driven metal-insulator transitions in the quasi-one-dimensional spin-ladder compounds BaFe${}_2$S${}_3$ and BaFe${}_2$Se${}_3$

Abstract

The quasi-one-dimensional spin ladder compounds, BaFe${}_2$S${}_3$ and BaFe${}_2$Se${}_3$, are investigated by infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We observe strong anisotropic electronic properties and an optical gap in the leg direction that is gradually filled above the antiferromagnetic (afm) ordering temperature, turning the systems into a metallic phase. Combining the optical data with the DFT calculations we associate the optical gap feature with the $p$-$d$ transition that appears only in the afm ordered state. Hence, the insulating ground state along the leg direction is attributed to Slater physics rather than Mott-type correlations.

5 pagea, 3 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Electrodynamics of Correlated Electron Materials
• Magnetic States of the Two-Leg Ladder Alkali Metal Iron Selenides $A$Fe${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Sequential structural and antiferromagnetic transitions in BaFe${}_2$Se${}_3$ under pressure
• Non-local correlations in the orbital selective Mott phase of a one dimensional multi-orbital Hubbard model
• Coexistence of localized and itinerant electrons in BaFe2X3 (X = S and Se) revealed by photoemission spectroscopy

Cited by in corpus (1)

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