Magnetic correlations in a layered iridate, Na2IrO3.

Analysis of published data gathered on a sample of Na(2)IrO(3), held deep inside the antiferromagnetic phase at 1.58 K, shows that iridium magnetic dipole moments, measured in resonant x-ray Bragg diffraction, lie in the a-c plane of the monoclinic crystal and enclose an angle ≈118° with the c-axis. These findings, together with bulk measurements, are united in a plausible magnetic ground state for an iridium ion constructed from a Kramers doublet. A magnetic space group, derived from the chemical space group C2/m (unique axis b), possesses an anti-translation, to accommodate antiferromagnetic order, and an odd, two-fold axis of rotation symmetry on the b-axis, C'(2b), placing Ir magnetic dipoles perpendicular to the b-axis. Anapoles (toroidal dipoles) are predicted to be likewise confined to the a-c plane, and magnetic charges forbidden.