Antiferromagnetic excitonic insulator state in Sr₃Ir₂O₇.

ABSTRACT: Excitonic insulators are usually considered to form via the condensation of a soft charge mode of bound electron-hole pairs. This, however, presumes that the soft exciton is of spin-singlet character. Early theoretical considerations have also predicted a very distinct scenario, in which the condensation of magnetic excitons results in an antiferromagnetic excitonic insulator state. Here we report resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements of Sr₃Ir₂O₇. By isolating the longitudinal component of the spectra, we identify a magnetic mode that is well-defined at the magnetic and structural Brillouin zone centers, but which merges with the electronic continuum in between these high symmetry points and which decays upon heating concurrent with a decr

SUBMITTER: Mazzone DG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8854623 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature