Determining Kitaev interaction in spin-$S$ honeycomb Mott insulators
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2022
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| _version_ | 1866913201210261504 |
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| author | Cen, Jiefu Kee, Hae-Young |
| author_facet | Cen, Jiefu Kee, Hae-Young |
| contents | The Kitaev interaction in a honeycomb lattice with higher-spin $S$ has been one of the central attractions, as it may offer quantum spin liquids. A microscopic theory showed that when the Hund's coupling at the transition metal generates $S> \frac{1}{2}$, the spin-orbit coupling at the heavy ligands provides a route to the Kitaev interaction. However, there have been debates over its strength compared to other symmetry-allowed interactions. Investigating the symmetry of the Hamiltonian for general $S$, we show the magnon energies at two momentum points related by a broken mirror symmetry reflect the Kitaev interaction when a magnetic field is in the mirror plane. Applying the symmetry analysis to CrI$_3$ with $S=\frac{3}{2}$ together with the available angle-dependent ferromagnetic resonance data, we estimate the Kitaev interaction out of the full Hamiltonian and find that it is sub-dominant. Our theory can be tested by inelastic neutron scattering on candidate materials under the proposed magnetic field direction, which will advance the search for general $S$ Kitaev materials. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2208_13807 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Determining Kitaev interaction in spin-$S$ honeycomb Mott insulators Cen, Jiefu Kee, Hae-Young Strongly Correlated Electrons The Kitaev interaction in a honeycomb lattice with higher-spin $S$ has been one of the central attractions, as it may offer quantum spin liquids. A microscopic theory showed that when the Hund's coupling at the transition metal generates $S> \frac{1}{2}$, the spin-orbit coupling at the heavy ligands provides a route to the Kitaev interaction. However, there have been debates over its strength compared to other symmetry-allowed interactions. Investigating the symmetry of the Hamiltonian for general $S$, we show the magnon energies at two momentum points related by a broken mirror symmetry reflect the Kitaev interaction when a magnetic field is in the mirror plane. Applying the symmetry analysis to CrI$_3$ with $S=\frac{3}{2}$ together with the available angle-dependent ferromagnetic resonance data, we estimate the Kitaev interaction out of the full Hamiltonian and find that it is sub-dominant. Our theory can be tested by inelastic neutron scattering on candidate materials under the proposed magnetic field direction, which will advance the search for general $S$ Kitaev materials. |
| title | Determining Kitaev interaction in spin-$S$ honeycomb Mott insulators |
| topic | Strongly Correlated Electrons |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.13807 |