Ultrafast Magnetic Control in the Spin-orbit Coupled Iridate Sr<sub>2</sub>IrO<sub>4</sub>

ORAL

Abstract

The spin-orbit coupled Mott insulator Sr2IrO4 has attracted considerable attention because of its exotic Jeff=1/2 Mott state arising from the interplay of on-site Coulomb repulsion and strong spin-orbit coupling. It is of interest to investigate how the magnetization dynamically evolves in response to electromagnetic excitation. We measured the dynamic properties of the Jeff=1/2 Mott state using strong sub-gap excitation (THz and mid-IR), monitoring the induced Kerr signal. THz-induced Kerr rotation is observed below TN (230K), following the THz pulse shape. Notably, for mid-IR circularly polarized excitation, we observe a strong temperature dependent Kerr rotation below 100K. We will discuss the possible origin of the observed dynamics in this intriguing material.

*Research supported by ARO W911NF-16-1-0361.

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Presenters

  • Gu-Feng Zhang

    • Physics, University of California, San Diego

Authors

  • Gu-Feng Zhang

    • Physics, University of California, San Diego

  • Jingdi Zhang

    • Physics, University of California, San Diego
    • Physics, Univ of California - San Diego
    • University of California San Diego
    • Department of Physics, University of California San Diego

  • Xiang Chen

    • Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Stephen Wilson

    • Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara
    • University of California
    • University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Materials Department, UCSB

  • Richard Averitt

    • Physics, University of California, San Diego
    • Physics, Univ of California - San Diego
    • Univ of California - San Diego
    • Department of Physics, University of California San Diego
    • Department of Physics, Univ of California - San Diego
    • University of California San Diego