Tunable magnons of an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator via interfacial metal-insulator transitions

Tunable magnons of an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator via interfacial metal-insulator transitions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Tunable magnons of an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator via interfacial metal-insulator transitions Ambrose Seo, Sujan Shrestha, Maryam Souri, Christopher Dietl, and 12 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4753008/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 15 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Antiferromagnetic insulators offer an alternative to ferromagnets due to their ultrafast spin dynamics essential for low-energy terahertz spintronic device applications. One way is to utilize magnons, i.e., quantized spin waves, which can carry information through excitations. However, finding external knobs for tuning the magnons has been a significant challenge. Here we report that interfacial metal-insulator transitions can be an effective means for controlling the magnons of a strongly spin-orbit-coupled antiferromagnetic Mott insulator, Sr 2 IrO 4 . From resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and Raman spectroscopy, we have observed a pronounced softening of zone-boundary magnon energies in several Sr 2 IrO 4 thin-film systems that are epitaxially contacted with metallic 4 d transition-metal oxides (TMOs). Therefore, the magnon dispersion of Sr 2 IrO 4 is tunable by metal-insulator transitions of the 4 d TMO crystals. Remarkably, this non-trivial behavior of magnons is a long-range phenomenon coupled with intriguing magnon-phonon interactions. Our experimental finding proposes a new scheme for magnonics. Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Magnetic properties and materials Physical sciences/Materials science/Nanoscale materials/Magnetic properties and materials Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Magnetic properties and materials Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformation.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 15 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4753008","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":331789036,"identity":"b6a385eb-6e79-4609-ba8b-e8e11c72d692","order_by":0,"name":"Ambrose Seo","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAqklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYNCCCgYDECVBgpYzJGthbCNFC38D+8MHH+cdNjY4wHzwNg8xWiQO8Bgbztx22MzgAFuyNVFaGA7wsEnzbjtsY3CAx0yaKC3yB9if/+adA9LC/404LQYHGMyYeRtADgNaR5QWw8M8xpIzjqUbSx5mM7acQ4wWuePtDz98qLE27Dve/PDGG2K0MDBDaYXDRClHBvINJGsZBaNgFIyCkQIAhEEt/Pny0MsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7055-5314","institution":"University of Kentucky","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ambrose","middleName":"","lastName":"Seo","suffix":""},{"id":331789037,"identity":"ba7de84c-b748-4567-8162-274df8c848e5","order_by":1,"name":"Sujan Shrestha","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Kentucky","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sujan","middleName":"","lastName":"Shrestha","suffix":""},{"id":331789038,"identity":"e82afc36-88d5-465d-9d65-e107038fa1de","order_by":2,"name":"Maryam Souri","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Kentucky","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maryam","middleName":"","lastName":"Souri","suffix":""},{"id":331789039,"identity":"70a6f774-d1df-4b3a-a20b-71cccd232cf6","order_by":3,"name":"Christopher Dietl","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christopher","middleName":"","lastName":"Dietl","suffix":""},{"id":331789040,"identity":"ed19a155-8e7b-4eb8-b337-fd95d5a08504","order_by":4,"name":"Ekaterina M. 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One way is to utilize magnons, i.e., quantized spin waves, which can carry information through excitations. However, finding external knobs for tuning the magnons has been a significant challenge. Here we report that interfacial metal-insulator transitions can be an effective means for controlling the magnons of a strongly spin-orbit-coupled antiferromagnetic Mott insulator, Sr\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eIrO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e. From resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and Raman spectroscopy, we have observed a pronounced softening of zone-boundary magnon energies in several Sr\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eIrO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e thin-film systems that are epitaxially contacted with metallic 4\u003ci\u003ed\u003c/i\u003e transition-metal oxides (TMOs). Therefore, the magnon dispersion of Sr\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eIrO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e is tunable by metal-insulator transitions of the 4\u003ci\u003ed\u003c/i\u003e TMO crystals. Remarkably, this non-trivial behavior of magnons is a long-range phenomenon coupled with intriguing magnon-phonon interactions. Our experimental finding proposes a new scheme for magnonics.","manuscriptTitle":"Tunable magnons of an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator via interfacial metal-insulator transitions","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-07-26 04:26:58","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4753008/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"52c85655-9bd7-46e6-83f7-3f463290febe","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 26th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":35130303,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Magnetic properties and materials"},{"id":35130304,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Nanoscale materials/Magnetic properties and materials"},{"id":35130305,"name":"Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Magnetic properties and materials"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-04-16T07:07:30+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-4753008","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58922-z","journal":{"identity":"nature-communications","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Nature Communications"},"publishedOn":"2025-04-15 04:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 15th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-07-26 04:26:58","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41467-025-58922-z","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58922-z","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4753008","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4753008","identity":"rs-4753008","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}