2025/12/22 by Joseph A. M. Paddison, Paddison, Joseph A. M., Lionel Desgranges +7
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Nuclear Materials and Properties #Rare-earth and actinide compounds #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2512.19674
openalex publication_date 2025/12/22 · openalex created_date 2025/12/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Uranium dioxide, UO2, is a canonical example of a magnetic material with strong spin-orbit coupling. Here, we present a study of the magnetic diffuse scattering measured on a polycrystalline sample of UO2, which we interpret in terms of its magnetic interactions between U4+ magnetic moments. By refining values of the magnetic interaction parameters to magnetic diffuse-scattering data measured above the magnetic ordering transition temperature, we show that the dominant magnetic coupling in UO2 is a bond-dependent interaction analogous to the Kitaev model of honeycomb magnets. We compare our experimental results with published theoretical predictions and experimental measurements of the magnetic excitation spectrum. Our results suggest that magnetic materials with f-electron magnetic ions, particularly actinides, may be promising candidates for realising Kitaev magnetism, and highlight the role that magnetic diffuse-scattering data can play in identifying such materials.