Understanding the Curious Magnetic State of Sr$_{3}$OsO$_{6}$

Abstract

Motivated by the recent report on high T$_c$ ferromagnetic insulating state of single transition metal containing double perovskite compound, Sr$_3$OsO$_6$ (Wakabayashi et. al., Nature Commun {\bf 10} 535, 2019), we study this curious behavior by employing first-principles calculations in conjunction with exact diagonalization of full $t_{2g}$ multiplet problem of two Os sites. Our analysis highlights the fact that stabilization of Sr$_3$OsO$_6$ in the cubic phase in epitaxially grown thin film is the key to both ferromagnetic correlation and high temperature scale associated to it. This also provides a natural explanation for the sister compound, Ca$_3$OsO$_6$ to exhibit low T$_N$ antiferromagnetism in its monoclinic structure. Further the insulating property is found to be driven by opening of Mott gap in the half filled spin-orbit coupled $j=3/2$ manifold of $d^{2}$ Os. We point out that Sr$_2$CaOsO$_6$ which naturally forms in the cubic phase would be worthwhile to explore as a future candidate to exhibit high T$_c$ ferromagnetic insulating state in bulk form.