Infrared study of the electronic structure of the metallic pyrochlore iridate Bi${}_{2}$Ir${}_{2}$O${}_{7}$

Infrared study of the electronic structure of the metallic pyrochlore iridate Bi $_{2}$ Ir $_{2}$ O $_{7}$

Y. S. Lee, S. J. Moon, Scott C. Riggs, M. C. Shapiro, I. R. Fisher, Bradford W. Fulfer, Julia Y. Chan, A. F. Kemper, and D. N. Basov

Phys. Rev. B 87, 195143 – Published 30 May 2013

Abstract

We investigated the electronic properties of a single crystal of metallic pyrochlore iridate Bi $_{2}$ Ir $_{2}$ O $_{7}$ by means of infrared spectroscopy. Our optical conductivity data show the splitting of $t_{2 g}$ bands into $J_{eff}$ ones due to strong spin-orbit coupling. We observed a sizable midinfrared absorption near 0.2 eV which can be attributed to the optical transition within the $J_{eff, 1 / 2}$ bands. More interestingly, we found an abrupt suppression of optical conductivity in the very far-infrared region. Our results suggest that the electronic structure of Bi $_{2}$ Ir $_{2}$ O $_{7}$ is governed by the strong spin-orbit coupling and correlation effects, which are a prerequisite for theoretically proposed nontrivial topological phases in pyrochlore iridates.

Received 2 February 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.87.195143

Authors & Affiliations

Y. S. Lee^1,2, S. J. Moon^1,3, Scott C. Riggs^4,5, M. C. Shapiro^4,5, I. R. Fisher^4,5, Bradford W. Fulfer⁶, Julia Y. Chan⁶, A. F. Kemper⁷, and D. N. Basov¹

¹Department of Physics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
²Department of Physics, Soongsil University, Seoul 156-743, Republic of Korea
³Department of Physics, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea
⁴Department of Applied Physics and Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
⁵Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
⁶Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
⁷Scientific Computing Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

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Vol. 87, Iss. 19 — 15 May 2013

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