Probing wave functions in complex oxides with X-rays

(Nanowerk News) In general, gaining an understanding of the properties of any material depends on determining the wavefunctions of its many-body ground and excited states. As the rules of quantum mechanics preclude the direct observation of any wavefunction, experimentalists are constantly striving to develop new methods which probe physical quantities that are as directly related to the wavefunction as possible.
In this context, resonant X-ray scattering has been highlighted in a number of studies, as the incident X-ray energy can be tuned to excite transitions between specific electronic wave functions.
Reporting in Physical Review Letters ("Resonant X-Ray Scattering and the jeff=1/2 Electronic Ground State in Iridate Perovskites"), a team of researchers from the ESRF, Grenoble, France, and the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) describe the results of their theoretical study of the extent to which it is possible to extract information on the wave function of complex oxides using resonant X-ray techniques. The specific oxides considered by the team are those subject to strong spin-orbit coupling.
IrO6 octahedron
The unusual extended, three dimensional jeff=1/2 groundstate wave function of an Ir4+ ion in an undistorted IrO6 octahedron. The IrO6 octahedron forms the idealised structural motif for understanding the properties of a range of novel iridium based oxides. Moretti Sala et al. provide a theoretical framework for understanding the extent to which the jeff=1/2 wave function can be probed by resonant X-ray techniques depending on distortions from cubic symmetry and the direction of the iridium magnetic moment.
The spin-orbit coupling plays a pivotal role in determining the properties of a range of materials of current interest. Although the phenomenology can be very different, ranging from topological insulators to the anomalous Hall effect, in each case the spin-orbit interaction serves to entangle spin and orbital moments producing exotic magnetic states. One particular group of materials for which the spin-orbit coupling has been predicted to lead to novel electronic states is the transition metal oxides formed from a 5d metal. Of specific interest are compounds of iridium for which - in the ideal case – a so-called jeff = 1/2 ground state has been predicted to give rise to a Mott-like insulating state (see Fig. 1).
In their calculations, Moretti Sala et al. investigated how the ground and excited states wave functions of iridium oxides may be interrogated using resonant X-ray scattering techniques. Most importantly, they elucidated the dependence of the resonant X-ray scattering cross-sections on structural distortions of the local cubic environment and on the direction of the local magnetic moment, something which up to this point had not been fully considered. As well as providing a rigorous theoretical framework for interpreting existing data, their work is of use in planning further experiments to explore the unusual properties of the jeff =1/2 state.
Source: London Centre for Nanotechnology