Abstract
We investigated the electronic structure of NaIrO using optical spectroscopy, first-principles calculation, and x-ray absorption spectroscopy. We found that the electronic structure of NaIrO is mainly determined by anisotropic hopping interactions and spin-orbit coupling. Due to the hopping interaction, the orbital character of the bands near the Fermi level deviates from the spin-orbit coupling-induced 1/2 states. Polarization-dependent O 1 x-ray absorption spectroscopy showed that the 1/2 state of an Ir atom can be mixed with the 3/2 state of the neighboring Ir atom. This result implies that mixing between the 1/2 and 3/2 states in the valence state should be carefully considered in proposed exotic states of NaIrO, such as topological insulator and quantum spin liquid states.
- Received 18 September 2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.085125
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