Molina, Everardo | Search NASA

DOE OSTI2022

Polarization dependent photoemission as a probe of the magnetic ground state in the van der Waals ferromagnet VI 3

Van der Waals ferromagnets are thrilling materials from both a fundamental and technological point of view. VI 3 is an interesting example, with a complex magnetism that differentiates it from the first reported Cr based layered ferromagnets. In this work, we show in an indirect way through angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments, the importance of spin–orbit coupling setting the electronic properties of this material. Our light polarized photoemission measurements point to a ground state with a half-filled $\mathcal{e}_{±}^{'}$ doublet, where a gap opening is triggered by spin–orbit coupling enhanced by electronic correlations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2020

Competition between magnetic order and charge localization in Na 2 IrO 3 thin crystal devices thin crystal devices

Spin orbit assisted Mott insulators such as sodium iridate (Na 2 IrO 3 ) have been an important subject of study in recent years. In these materials, the interplay of electronic correlations, spin-orbit coupling, crystal field effects, and a honeycomb arrangement of ions bring exciting ground states, predicted in the frame of the Kitaev model. The insulating character of Na 2 IrO 3 has hampered its integration to an electronic device, desirable for applications, such as the manipulation of quasiparticles interesting for topological quantum computing. Here we show through electronic transport measurements supported by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments, that electronic transport in Na 2 IrO 3 is ruled by variable range hopping and it is strongly dependent on the magnetic ordering transition known for bulk Na 2 IrO 3 , as well as on external electric fields. Furthermore, electronic transport measurements allow us to deduce a value for the localization length and the density of states in our Na 2 IrO 3 thin crystal devices, and offer an alternative approach to study insulating 2D-materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗