Mott physics and band topology in materials with strong spin-orbit interaction

TL;DR

This paper explores how strong spin-orbit coupling and electron correlations influence the electronic phases of materials, predicting a transition from metallic to topological insulator and then to a topological Mott insulator with unique surface excitations.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework showing how spin-orbit coupling enhances and interacts with electron correlations, leading to novel topological phases in strongly correlated materials.

Findings

Weak spin-orbit interaction yields metallic phase

Strong spin-orbit interaction induces topological band insulator

Increasing electron interactions leads to a topological Mott insulator with gapless surface states

Abstract

Recent theory and experiment have revealed that strong spin-orbit coupling can have dramatic qualitative effects on the band structure of weakly interacting solids. Indeed, it leads to a distinct phase of matter, the topological band insulator. In this paper, we consider the combined effects of spin-orbit coupling and strong electron correlation, and show that the former has both quantitative and qualitative effects upon the correlation-driven Mott transition. As a specific example we take Ir-based pyrochlores, where the subsystem of Ir 5d electrons is known to undergo a Mott transition. At weak electron-electron interaction, we predict that Ir electrons are in a metallic phase at weak spin-orbit interaction, and in a topological band insulator phase at strong spin-orbit interaction. Very generally, we show that with increasing strength of the electron-electron interaction, the effective spin-orbit coupling is enhanced, increasing the domain of the topological band insulator. Furthermore, in our model, we argue that with increasing interactions, the topological band insulator is transformed into a "topological Mott insulator" phase, which is characterized by gapless surface spin-only excitations. The full phase diagram also includes a narrow region of gapless Mott insulator with a spinon Fermi surface, and a magnetically ordered state at still larger electron-electron interaction.