Strong superexchange in a d9−δ nickelate revealed by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.087001

Authors: J. q. Lin (Brookhaven National Laboratory; ShanghaiTech University; Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Science) , P. Villar Arribi (Argonne National Laboratory) , G. Fabbris (Brookhaven National Laboratory; Advanced Photon Source) , A. s. Botana (Arizona State University) , D. Meyers (Brookhaven National Laboratory; Oklahoma State University) , H. Miao (Brookhaven National Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory) , Y. Shen (Brookhaven National Laboratory) , D. G. Mazzone (Brookhaven National Laboratory; Paul Scherrer Institut) , J. Feng (Sorbonne Université, CNRS) , G. S. Chiuzbaian (Sorbonne Université, CNRS; Synchrotron SOLEIL) , A. Nag (Diamond Light Source) , A. C. Walters (Diamond Light Source) , M. Garcia-Fernandez (Diamond Light Source) , K.-J. Zhou (Diamond Light Source; Swiss Light Source) , J. Pelliciari (National Synchrotron Light Source II) , I. Jarrige (National Synchrotron Light Source II) , J. w. Freeland (Advanced Photon Source) , J. Zhang (Argonne National Laboratory; Shandong University) , J. f. Mitchell (Argonne National Laboratory) , V. Bisogni (National Synchrotron Light Source II) , X. Liu (ShanghaiTech University) , M. r. Norman (Argonne National Laboratory) , M. p. m. Dean (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Physical Review Letters , VOL 126

State: Published (Approved)
Published: February 2021
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 18519

Abstract: The discovery of superconductivity in a d 9 − δ nickelate has inspired disparate theoretical perspectives regarding the essential physics of this class of materials. A key issue is the magnitude of the magnetic superexchange, which relates to whether cuprate-like high-temperature nickelate superconductivity could be realized. We address this question using Ni L -edge and O K -edge spectroscopy of the reduced d 9 − 1 / 3 trilayer nickelates R 4 Ni 3 O 8 (where R = La , Pr) and associated theoretical modeling. A magnon energy scale of ∼ 80     meV resulting from a nearest-neighbor magnetic exchange of J = 69 ( 4 )     meV is observed, proving that d 9 − δ nickelates can host a large superexchange. This value, along with that of the Ni-O hybridization estimated from our O K -edge data, implies that trilayer nickelates represent an intermediate case between the infinite-layer nickelates and the cuprates. Layered nickelates thus provide a route to testing the relevance of superexchange to nickelate superconductivity.

Journal Keywords: Magnetic coupling; Magnetic interactions; Magnons; Superconducting phase transition; High-temperature superconductors; Strongly correlated systems; Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Subject Areas: Materials, Physics


Instruments: I21-Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS)

Other Facilities: SIX beamline at National Synchrotron Light Source II; SEXTANTS beamline at Synchrotron SOLEIL

Discipline Tags:

Material Sciences Quantum Materials Superconductors Physics Hard condensed matter - electronic properties

Technical Tags:

Scattering Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS)