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  • Spin-orbit entangled j=12 m...
    Revelli, A; Loo, C Loo; Kiese, D; Becker, P; Fröhlich, T; Lorenz, T; Sala, M Moretti; Monaco, G; Buessen, F L; Attig, J; Hermanns, M; Streltsov, S V; Khomskii, D I; van den Brink, J; Braden, M; van Loosdrecht, P HM; Trebst, S; Paramekanti, A; Grüninger, M

    Physical review. B, 08/2019, Volume: 100, Issue: 8
    Journal Article

    We establish the double perovskite Ba2CeIrO6 as a nearly ideal model system for j=1/2 moments, with resonant inelastic x-ray scattering indicating that the ideal j=1/2 state contributes by more than 99% to the ground-state wave function. The local j=1/2 moments form an fcc lattice and are found to order antiferromagnetically at TN=14K, more than an order of magnitude below the Curie-Weiss temperature. Model calculations show that the geometric frustration of the fcc Heisenberg antiferromagnet is further enhanced by a next-nearest neighbor exchange, and a significant size of the latter is indicated by ab initio theory. Our theoretical analysis shows that magnetic order is driven by a bond-directional Kitaev exchange and by local distortions via a strong magnetoelastic effect. Both, the suppression of frustration by Kitaev exchange and the strong magnetoelastic effect are typically not expected for j=1/2 compounds making Ba2CeIrO6 a riveting example for the rich physics of spin-orbit entangled Mott insulators.