Antiferromagnetic resonance in the cubic iridium hexahalides (NH$_4$)$_2$IrCl$_6$ and K$_2$IrCl$_6$

Abstract

We report on high-field electron spin resonance studies of two iridium hexahalide compounds, (NH$_4$)$_2$IrCl$_6$ and K$_2$IrCl$_6$. In the paramagnetic state, our measurements reveal isotropic $g$-factors $g = 1.79$(1) for the Ir$^{4+}$ ions, in agreement with their cubic symmetries. Most importantly, in the magnetically ordered state, we observe two magnon modes with zero-field gaps of 11.3 and 14.2 K for (NH$_4$)$_2$IrCl$_6$ and K$_2$IrCl$_6$, respectively. Based on that and using linear spin-wave theory, we estimate the nearest-neighbor exchange couplings and anisotropic Kitaev interactions, $J_1/k_B=10.3$ K, $K/k_B=0.7$ K for (NH$_4$)$_2$IrCl$_6$, and $J_1/k_B=13.8$ K, $K/k_B=0.9$ K for K$_2$IrCl$_6$, revealing the nearest-neighbor Heisenberg coupling as the leading interaction term, with only a weak Kitaev anisotropy.