Structural, Magnetic, and Electrical Properties of Li2Ir1-xRuxO3

TL;DR

This study investigates how doping with Ruthenium affects the structural, magnetic, and electrical properties of Li2IrO3, revealing the suppression of antiferromagnetism, formation of bond dimers, and persistent insulating behavior across doping levels.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of Ru doping on Li2IrO3, showing deviations from the expected one-band jeff=1/2 model and highlighting complex magnetic and structural phenomena.

Findings

Antiferromagnetic phase disappears for x > 0.2

Bond dimers appear for x > 0.5

System remains insulating at all doping levels

Abstract

The crystal structure, resistivity, and magnetic susceptibility of the Li2Ir1-xRuxO3 (x = 0-1) polycrystals have been investigated. We found that the parent antiferromagnetic phase disappears for x > 0.2 and bond dimers appear in the averaged structure for x > 0.5 and likely fluctuate for much smaller x. Unexpectedly, this system remains insulating for all the doping levels, in sharp contrast with the robust metallic state found in Sr2Ir1-xRuxO4. These results demonstrate that the essential physics of the doped A2IrO3 (A = Li, Na) system deviates significantly from the common one-band jeff=1/2 spin-orbit model.