Quasiparticle Relaxation Dynamics in the Kitaev Hyperhoneycomb β-Li<sub>2</sub>IrO<sub>3</sub>

ORAL

Abstract

We study quasiparticle relaxation dynamics in single crystals of the three dimensional Kitaev hyperhoneycomb β-Li2IrO3 (LIO) using time-resolved optical pump-probe spectroscopy (OPPS). OPPS is extremely sensitive to subtle changes in the low energy electronic structure and the emergence of new quasiparticles, which can be missed with other probes. For LIO, we show that the photoinduced change in reflectivity is sensitive to several distinct phases upon varying temperature, photoexcitation intensity, and magnetic field applied along the crystallographic b axis. We observe large differences in the relaxation dynamics in the incommensurate spiral phase at low applied fields as compared to the field-induced zig-zag phase at fields above 2.8 Tesla. In addition, OPPS is sensitive to the recently discovered bulk high temperature phase transition at approximately 100 Kelvin. By tracking the evolution of quasiparticle dynamics within this new phase as a function of temperature and field, our results shed light on the nature of this phase as well as its relationship to the known low temperature phases.

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

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Presenters

  • Peter Kissin

    • Physics, University of California, San Diego
    • University of California, San Diego

Authors

  • Peter Kissin

    • Physics, University of California, San Diego
    • University of California, San Diego

  • Alejandro Ruiz

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

  • Peter Kim

    • University of California, San Diego

  • Max Poore

    • University of California, San Diego

  • Ananya Rai

    • University of California, San Diego

  • Mayia A Vranas

    • University of California, Berkeley

  • James Analytis

    • University of California, Berkeley
    • Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
    • Physics, University of California Berkeley
    • Physics, University of California Berkerley
    • Physics, University of California, Berkeley
    • physics, University of California, Berkeley

  • Alex Frano

    • University of California, San Diego

  • Richard Averitt

    • Physics, University of California, San Diego
    • Physics, University Of California, San Diego
    • University of California, San Diego