Emergence of bond-dependent highly anisotropic magnetic interactions in Sr4RhO6: a theoretical study
Abstract
The quantum spin liquid states as a natural ground state of the Kitaev model has led to a quest for new materials candidates hosting Kitaev physics. Yet, there are very few material candidates in this category. Using a combination of ab initio and model Hamiltonian methods, we propose that Ruddlesden-Popper compound Sr4RhO6 belongs to this category. With a tight-binding model and exact diagonalization approach, we show that despite substantial trigonal-like distortion, the electronic and magnetic properties of Sr4RhO6 can be well described in terms of pseudo-spin = 1/2 states. Magnetic interactions among pseudo-spins, estimated using the second-order perturbation method are highly bond-dependent anisotropic in nature with two particularly noticeable features, antiferromagnetic Kitaev and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions. The gaped spin-wave spectra of Sr4RhO6 obtained with linear spin-wave theory is consistent with the underlying magnetic frustration. Additional analysis of the role of individual or a particular combination of magnetic interactions reveals that the spin-wave spectra of Sr4RhO6 is a combined effect of the highly anisotropic interactions and a relatively simpler minimal model may not be plausible in the current case. The crucial insights about coupling between the local structural features and magnetic properties of Sr4RhO6 obtained in this study may be helpful for future studies belonging to this class.
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