English

Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$: when Luttinger semimetal meets Melko-Hertog-Gingras spin ice state

Strongly Correlated Electrons 2018-12-12 v2 Materials Science

Abstract

We study the band structure topology and engineering from the interplay between local moments and itinerant electrons in the context of pyrochlore iridates. For the metallic iridate Pr2_2Ir2_2O7_7, the Ir 5d5d conduction electrons interact with the Pr 4f4f local moments via the ff-dd exchange. While the Ir electrons form a Luttinger semimetal, the Pr moments can be tuned into an ordered spin ice with a finite ordering wavevector, dubbed "Melko-Hertog-Gingras" state, by varying Ir and O contents. We point out that the ordered spin ice of the Pr local moments generates an internal magnetic field that reconstructs the band structure of the Luttinger semimetal. Besides the broad existence of Weyl nodes, we predict that the magnetic translation of the "Melko-Hertog-Gingras" state for the Pr moments protects the Dirac band touching at certain time reversal invariant momenta for the Ir conduction electrons. We propose the magnetic fields to control the Pr magnetic structure and thereby indirectly influence the topological and other properties of the Ir electrons. Our prediction may be immediately tested in the ordered Pr2_2Ir2_2O7_7 samples. We expect our work to stimulate a detailed examination of the band structure, magneto-transport, and other properties of Pr2_2Ir2_2O7_7.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1712.06534,
  title  = {Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$: when Luttinger semimetal meets Melko-Hertog-Gingras spin ice state},
  author = {Xu Ping Yao and Gang Chen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1712.06534},
  year   = {2018}
}

Comments

10 pages, 7 figures, added more refs