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Magnetism of j = 1/2 moments on the fcc lattice in double perovskite Mott insulators...

by Adam A Aczel, A. Cook, Stephanie Matern, Ciaran Hickey, A. Paramekanti
Publication Type
Journal
Journal Name
Physical Review B
Publication Date
Volume
92

Motivated by experiments on La2ZnIrO6 and La2MgIrO6, we study the magnetism of spin-orbit coupled jeff = 1/2 iridium moments on the three-dimensional geometrically-frustrated face-centered cubic lattice. The symmetry-allowed nearest-neighbor interaction includes Heisenberg, Kitaev, and symmetric off-diagonal exchange. Using Luttinger-Tisza and Monte Carlo simulations, we find a rich variety of orders, including collinear A-type antiferromagnetism, collinear stripe order with moments along the {111}-direction, and incommensurate non-coplanar spirals, and determine their magnetic ordering transition temperatures. We argue that thermodynamic data on these iridates underscore the presence of a dominant Kitaev exchange, and suggest a possible resolution to the puzzle of why La2ZnIrO6, but not La2MgIrO6, exhibits 'weak' ferromagnetism.