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5d transition-metal oxides such as SrIrO3 feature large SOC, but usually show paramagnetic behavior due to broad bands and a low density of states at the Fermi level, accompanied by a relatively low Coulomb repulsion.
In a recently published work in Advanced Functional Materials [1], SrIrO3 (111) revealed a hidden ferromagnetism designated by anomalous Hall effect (AHE) contributions. Carmine Autieri (Magtop) and Amar Fakhredine (IFPAN) focused on the theoretical analysis, revealing the origin of this ferromagnetism using density functional theory (DFT) calculations . The results highlight the crucial role of IrO₆ octahedra, whose connectivity strongly influences the material’s magnetism. Density of states (DOS) calculations show that the structure with corner and face-shared octahedra exhibits a high DOS at the Fermi level (EF), while the one with only corner-shared displays a dip at EF, indicating a paramagnetic state. The system appears to be an itinerant ferromagnet with a magnetic moment of 0.3 µB/Ir. Partial DOS calculations further confirm this picture: corner-shared octahedra mainly drive the Stoner instability, while face-shared octahedra reduce the effective SOC and enable the favorable structural arrangement. Experimental results show a contribution of the Berry curvature designated by a non-zero AHE, which was justified by the emergence of Weyl points near the Fermi level. Without magnetization, band structure calculations show semi-Dirac points which are further split by the ferromagnetism induced by the face-shared octahedra and further forming two Weyl points. This observation finally suggests that this material may host a ferromagnetic Weyl semi-metal. In addition, experimental observations has shown that the SIO (001) film exhibits electron-dominated transport down to low temperatures, while the SIO (111) film shows hole-dominated transport across the entire temperature range. This again, was confirmed by Fermi surface calculations that showed more hole pockets than electron pockets in the case of SIO (111).
This work highlights the potential of structurally engineered 5d oxides for spin-orbitronic devices, where efficient control of SOC-induced magnetic phases by electric currents can lead to lower energy consumption and improved performance in next-generation device technologies.
| [1] . S. Lim, C. Autieri, M. Spring, M. Kamp, A. Fakhredine, P. Potapov, D. Wolf, S. Pylypenko, A. Lubk, J. Schultz, N. Perez, B. Mehlhorn, L. Veyrat, M. Cuoco, F. Choueikan, P. Ohresser, B. Büchner, G. Sangiovanni, R. Claessen, M. Sing. Inducing Ferromagnetism by Structural Engineering in a Strongly Spin‐Orbit Coupled Oxide. Advanced Functional Materials, e00032 (2026). |