Enhancement of the spin-orbit coupling by strong electronic correlations in transition metal and light actinide compounds

P S Riseborough; S G Magalhaes; E J Calegari; G Cao

doi:10.1088/1361-648X/aba381

Enhancement of the spin-orbit coupling by strong electronic correlations in transition metal and light actinide compounds

J Phys Condens Matter. 2020 Aug 6;32(44). doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/aba381.

Authors

P S Riseborough¹, S G Magalhaes², E J Calegari³, G Cao⁴

Affiliations

¹ Physics Department, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, United States of America.
² Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
³ Departamento de Física-UFSM, 97105-900, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States of America.

PMID: 32634784
DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/aba381

Abstract

A simple variational argument is presented which indicates that the spin-orbit coupling in itinerant systems can be enhanced by strong electronic correlations. The importance of the enhancement in the formation of the giant magnetic anisotropy found in the metallic paramagnetic and magnetically ordered states of compounds containing transition metal and light actinide elements (such as tetragonal Sr₂RhO₄, Sr₂IrO₄, the cubic uranium monochalcogenides and tetragonal URu₂Si₂) is discussed.

Keywords: electronic correlations; enhancement; magnetic anisotropy; spin orbit coupling.