Incommensurate Charge Super-modulation and Hidden Dipole Order in Layered Kitaev Material $α$-RuCl$_3$

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zheng, Xiaohu, Liu, Zhengxin, Zhang, Cuiwei, Zhou, Huaxue, Yang, Chongli, Shi, Youguo, Tanigaki, Katsumi, Du, Rui-Rui
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866916369159684096
author Zheng, Xiaohu
Liu, Zhengxin
Zhang, Cuiwei
Zhou, Huaxue
Yang, Chongli
Shi, Youguo
Tanigaki, Katsumi
Du, Rui-Rui
author_facet Zheng, Xiaohu
Liu, Zhengxin
Zhang, Cuiwei
Zhou, Huaxue
Yang, Chongli
Shi, Youguo
Tanigaki, Katsumi
Du, Rui-Rui
contents The magnetism of Kitaev materials has been widely studied, but their charge properties and the coupling to other degrees of freedom are less known. Here we investigate the charge states of $α$-RuCl$_3$, a promising Kitaev quantum spin liquid candidate, in proximity to graphite. We discover that few-layered $α$-RuCl$_3$ experiences a clear modulation of charge states, where a Mott-insulator to weak charge-transfer-insulator transition in the 2D limit occurs by means of heterointerfacial polarization. More notably, distinct signals of incommensurate charge and lattice super-modulations, regarded as an unconventional charge order, accompanied in the insulator. Our theoretical calculations have reproduced the incommensurate charge order by taking into account the antiferroelectricity of $α$-RuCl$_3$ that is driven by dipole order in the internal electric fields. The findings imply that there is strong coupling between the charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom in layered $α$-RuCl$_3$ in the heterostructure, which offers an opportunity to electrically access and tune its magnetic interactions inside the Kitaev compounds.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_11232
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Incommensurate Charge Super-modulation and Hidden Dipole Order in Layered Kitaev Material $α$-RuCl$_3$
Zheng, Xiaohu
Liu, Zhengxin
Zhang, Cuiwei
Zhou, Huaxue
Yang, Chongli
Shi, Youguo
Tanigaki, Katsumi
Du, Rui-Rui
Strongly Correlated Electrons
The magnetism of Kitaev materials has been widely studied, but their charge properties and the coupling to other degrees of freedom are less known. Here we investigate the charge states of $α$-RuCl$_3$, a promising Kitaev quantum spin liquid candidate, in proximity to graphite. We discover that few-layered $α$-RuCl$_3$ experiences a clear modulation of charge states, where a Mott-insulator to weak charge-transfer-insulator transition in the 2D limit occurs by means of heterointerfacial polarization. More notably, distinct signals of incommensurate charge and lattice super-modulations, regarded as an unconventional charge order, accompanied in the insulator. Our theoretical calculations have reproduced the incommensurate charge order by taking into account the antiferroelectricity of $α$-RuCl$_3$ that is driven by dipole order in the internal electric fields. The findings imply that there is strong coupling between the charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom in layered $α$-RuCl$_3$ in the heterostructure, which offers an opportunity to electrically access and tune its magnetic interactions inside the Kitaev compounds.
title Incommensurate Charge Super-modulation and Hidden Dipole Order in Layered Kitaev Material $α$-RuCl$_3$
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.11232