arXivDaily arXiv每日学术速递 周一至周五更新
arXiv 2111.04560cond-mat.str-el
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$α$ $_3$晶体和电子性质的理论研究

Theoretical study of the crystal and electronic properties of $α$-RuI$_3$

Yang Zhang, Ling-Fang Lin, Adriana Moreo, Elbio Dagotto

摘要:

具有二维Ru蜂窝状亚晶格的材料$α$-RuCl $_3$引起了相当大的关注,因为它可能是Kitaev量子自旋液体(QSL)的实现。最近,在中等高压下制备了一种新型蜂窝材料$α$ -RuI $_3$,并且在环境条件下稳定。然而,与$α$-RuCl $_3$不同,$α$-RuI $_3$据报道是一种没有低至$0.35$ K的长程磁序的顺磁性金属.本文从理论上研究了准二维$α$-RuI $_3$的结构和电子性质。首先,基于第一性原理密度泛函理论(DFT)计算,发现ABC堆叠蜂窝层$R\overline{3}$(No.148)结构是$α$-RuI $_3$沿$c$ -轴的最可能堆叠顺序。此外,$R\overline{3}$和$P\overline{3}1c$都是动态稳定的,因为在声子色散谱中没有获得虚频模式。此外,可以自然地理解$α$-RuI $_3$与$α$-RuCl $_3$相比的不同物理行为. Ru $4d$和I $5p$轨道之间的强杂化降低了有效原子哈伯德排斥$U$,导致RuI $_3$的电子比RuCl $_3$更少地局域化。因此,有效排斥$U$从Cl减少到I,导致$α$-RuI $_3$的金属性质。基于密度泛函理论(DFT)+ $U$($U_{\rm eff} = 2$ eV),加上自旋轨道耦合(SOC),我们得到了$α$-RuCl $_3$的自旋轨道Mott绝缘行为和$α$-RuI $_3$的金属行为,与实验结果符合得很好.此外,当引入大的(不切实际的)$U_{\rm eff} = 6$ eV时,$α$-RuI $_3$中的自旋-轨道莫特能隙也打开,支持我们提出的物理图像。

英文摘要:

The material $α$-RuCl$_3$, with a two-dimensional Ru-honeycomb sublattice, has attracted considerable attention because it may be a realization of the Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL). Recently, a new honeycomb material, $α$-RuI$_3$, was prepared under moderate high-pressure and it is stable under ambient conditions. However, different from $α$-RuCl$_3$, $α$-RuI$_3$ was reported to be a paramagnetic metal without long-range magnetic order down to $0.35$ K. Here, the structural and electronic properties of the quasi-two-dimensional $α$-RuI$_3$ are theoretically studied. First, based on first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the ABC stacking honeycomb-layer $R\overline{3}$ (No. 148) structure is found to be the most likely stacking order for $α$-RuI$_3$ along the $c$-axis. Furthermore, both $R\overline{3}$ and $P\overline{3}1c$ are dynamically stable because no imaginary frequency modes were obtained in the phononic dispersion spectrum. Moreover, the different physical behavior of $α$-RuI$_3$ compared to $α$-RuCl$_3$ can be understood naturally. The strong hybridization between Ru $4d$ and I $5p$ orbitals decreases the effective atomic Hubbard repulsion $U$, leading the electrons of RuI$_3$ to be less localized than in RuCl$_3$. As a consequence, the effective repulsion $U$ is reduced from Cl to I, leading to the metallic nature of $α$-RuI$_3$. Based on the DFT+$U$ ($U_{\rm eff} = 2$ eV), plus spin-orbital coupling (SOC), we obtained a spin-orbit Mott insulating behavior for $α$-RuCl$_3$ and, by the same procedure, a metallic behavior for $α$-RuI$_3$, in good agreement with experimental results. Furthermore, when introducing a large (unrealistic) $U_{\rm eff} = 6$ eV, the spin-orbit Mott gap opens in $α$-RuI$_3$ as well, supporting the physical picture we are proposing.

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