Lu Xingye, McNally D E, Moretti Sala M, Terzic J, Upton M H, Casa D, Ingold G, Cao G, Schmitt T
Research Department Synchrotron Radiation and Nanotechnology, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP 220, F-38043 Grenoble Cedex, France.
Phys Rev Lett. 2017 Jan 13;118(2):027202. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.027202. Epub 2017 Jan 12.
We use resonant elastic and inelastic x-ray scattering at the Ir-L_{3} edge to study the doping-dependent magnetic order, magnetic excitations, and spin-orbit excitons in the electron-doped bilayer iridate (Sr_{1-x}La_{x}){3}Ir{2}O_{7} (0≤x≤0.065). With increasing doping x, the three-dimensional long range antiferromagnetic order is gradually suppressed and evolves into a three-dimensional short range order across the insulator-to-metal transition from x=0 to 0.05, followed by a transition to two-dimensional short range order between x=0.05 and 0.065. Because of the interactions between the J_{eff}=1/2 pseudospins and the emergent itinerant electrons, magnetic excitations undergo damping, anisotropic softening, and gap collapse, accompanied by weakly doping-dependent spin-orbit excitons. Therefore, we conclude that electron doping suppresses the magnetic anisotropy and interlayer couplings and drives (Sr_{1-x}La_{x}){3}Ir{2}O_{7} into a correlated metallic state with two-dimensional short range antiferromagnetic order. Strong antiferromagnetic fluctuations of the J_{eff}=1/2 moments persist deep in this correlated metallic state, with the magnon gap strongly suppressed.
我们利用Ir-L₃边的共振弹性和非弹性X射线散射来研究电子掺杂双层铱酸盐(Sr₁₋ₓLaₓ)₃Ir₂O₇(0≤x≤0.065)中与掺杂相关的磁序、磁激发和自旋轨道激子。随着掺杂量x的增加,三维长程反铁磁序逐渐受到抑制,并在从x = 0到0.05的绝缘体到金属转变过程中演变为三维短程序, 随后在x = 0.05和0.065之间转变为二维短程序。由于Jₑբ = 1/2赝自旋与出现的巡游电子之间的相互作用,磁激发经历了阻尼、各向异性软化和能隙崩塌,并伴随着弱掺杂依赖的自旋轨道激子。因此,我们得出结论,电子掺杂抑制了磁各向异性和层间耦合,并将(Sr₁₋ₓLaₓ)₃Ir₂O₇驱动到具有二维短程反铁磁序的关联金属态。Jₑբ = 1/2矩的强反铁磁涨落在这种关联金属态中持续存在,磁振子能隙被强烈抑制。