Magnetic excitations of Sr$_3$Ir$_2$O$_7$ observed by inelastic neutron scattering measurement

TL;DR

This study uses inelastic neutron scattering to observe high-energy magnetic excitations in Sr$_3$Ir$_2$O$_7$, confirming that INS and RIXS detect the same magnons in iridate oxides.

Contribution

First INS study of high-energy magnetic excitations in Sr$_3$Ir$_2$O$_7$, demonstrating consistency with RIXS measurements and establishing INS as a tool for iridate excitations.

Findings

Magnetic excitations between 80 and 180 meV observed.

Peak positions match RIXS magnon dispersion.

INS and RIXS detect identical excitations in iridates.

Abstract

In this short note, we report on the first inelastic neutron scattering (INS) study on high-energy magnetic excitations in Sr$_3$Ir$_2$O$_7$. We observed excitations between $\sim$80 meV and $\sim$180 meV. The peak position of the excitations is consistent with the dispersion of a single magnon determined by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurement. Thus, our results demonstrate that INS and RIXS observe identical excitations in iridate oxides, as in La$_2$CuO$_4$.