Dr. Goerge Jackeli (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart)
"Spin-Orbit Coupling in Mott Insulators: Unusual Interactions and Possible Exotic Phase"
Over the last few years, there has been an upsurge of interest in materials in which exotic states may emerge
as the result of relativistic spin-orbit interactions. We will discuss insulating iridium oxides from this perspective.
We show that the strong spin-orbit coupling, through the entanglement of spin and orbital spaces, leads to a variety
of interesting Hamiltonians ranging from the Heisenberg model to the Kitaev or quantum compass models, for different
lattice geometries [1]. Based on these effective Hamiltonians, we present a comprehensive theoretical study [1-3] of
the rich phase behavior and dynamics observed in layered iridium oxides such as tetragonal Sr2IrO4 and Sr3Ir2O7 and
hexagonal A2IrO3 (A=Na, Li). We suggest that the hexagonal iridates might be close to the Kitaev spin-liquid state.
We also discuss the layered tetragonal vanadate Sr2VO4 and argue that magnetically-hidden octupolar order, driven
by spin-orbit coupling, is realized in this compound [4].
[1] G. Jackeli and G. Khaliullin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 017205 (2009).
[2] J. Chaloupka, G. Jackeli, and G. Khaliullin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 027204 (2010).
[3] J. Chaloupka, G. Jackeli, and G. Khaliullin, arXiv:1209.5100.
[4] G. Jackeli and G. Khaliullin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 067205 (2009).