Time-reversal symmetry breaking hidden order in Sr2(Ir,Rh)O4

Authors:

Open Access

24 April 2017

journal article
research article
Published by Springer Nature in Nature Communications

Vol. 8 (1) , 15119
DOI:10.1038/ncomms15119
PMID:28436436
PMCID:PMC5413971

Abstract

Layered 5d transition iridium oxides, Sr₂(Ir,Rh)O₄, are described as unconventional Mott insulators with strong spin-orbit coupling. The undoped compound, Sr₂IrO₄, is a nearly ideal two-dimensional pseudospin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet, similarly to the insulating parent compound of high-temperature superconducting copper oxides. Using polarized neutron diffraction, we here report a hidden magnetic order in pure and doped Sr₂(Ir,Rh)O₄, distinct from the usual antiferromagnetic pseudospin ordering. We find that time-reversal symmetry is broken while the lattice translation invariance is preserved in the hidden order phase. The onset temperature matches that of the odd-parity hidden order recently highlighted using optical second-harmonic generation experiments. The novel magnetic order and broken symmetries can be explained by the loop-current model, previously predicted for the copper oxide superconductors.

Keywords

All Related Versions

Version 1, 2017-01-23, ArXiv

This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:

Structural Distortion-Induced Magnetoelastic Locking in ${Sr}_{2} {IrO}_{4}$ Revealed through Nonlinear Optical Harmonic Generation
Physical Review Letters, 2015
Dilute magnetism and spin-orbital percolation effects in ${Sr}_{2}$ ${Ir}_{1 - x}$ ${Rh}_{x}$ $O_{4}$
Physical Review B, 2014
Magnetic and crystal structures of ${Sr}_{2} {IrO}_{4}$ : A neutron diffraction study
Physical Review B, 2013
Neutron scattering study of correlated phase behavior in Sr $_{2}$ IrO $_{4}$
Physical Review B, 2013
Robustness of Basal-Plane Antiferromagnetic Order and the $J_{eff} = 1 / 2$ State in Single-Layer Iridate Spin-Orbit Mott Insulators
Physical Review Letters, 2013
Ab initioStudies on the Interplay between Spin-Orbit Interaction and Coulomb Correlation in ${Sr}_{2} {IrO}_{4}$ and ${Ba}_{2} {IrO}_{4}$
Physical Review Letters, 2012
Twisted Hubbard Model for ${Sr}_{2} {IrO}_{4}$ : Magnetism and Possible High Temperature Superconductivity
Physical Review Letters, 2011
Phase-Sensitive Observation of a Spin-Orbital Mott State in Sr ₂ IrO ₄
Science, 2009
Novel $J_{eff} = 1 / 2$ Mott State Induced by Relativistic Spin-Orbit Coupling in ${Sr}_{2} {IrO}_{4}$
Physical Review Letters, 2008
Neutron Powder Diffraction Study of the Crystal Structures of Sr2RuO4 and Sr2IrO4 at Room Temperature and at 10 K
Journal of Solid State Chemistry, 1994