In:
npj Quantum Materials, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Vol. 8, No. 1 ( 2023-10-05)
Abstract:
Collective excitations such as plasmons and paramagnons are fingerprints of atomic-scale Coulomb and exchange interactions between conduction electrons in metals. The strength and range of these interactions, which are encoded in the excitations’ dispersion relations, are of primary interest in research on the origin of collective instabilities such as superconductivity and magnetism in quantum materials. Here we report resonant inelastic x-ray scattering experiments on the correlated 4 d -electron metal Sr 2 RhO 4 , which reveal a spin-orbit entangled collective excitation. The dispersion relation of this mode is opposite to those of antiferromagnetic insulators such as Sr 2 IrO 4 , where the spin-orbit excitons are dressed by magnons. The presence of propagating spin-orbit excitons implies that the spin-orbit coupling in Sr 2 RhO 4 is unquenched, and that collective instabilities in 4 d -electron metals and superconductors must be described in terms of spin-orbit entangled electronic states.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2397-4648
DOI:
10.1038/s41535-023-00585-4
Language:
English
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2882263-8
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