2021/05/24 by H. Lu, M. Rossi, A. Nag +14 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.supr-con #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.abd7726
published as Science 373, 213-216 (2021) · This is the initially submitted version before revising for reviewers' comments. The peer-reviewed version has been accepted at Science and will be published soon
arxiv created 2021/05/24 · arxiv updated 2021/09/14
The discovery of superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates brings us tantalizingly close to a new material class that mirrors the cuprate superconductors. Here, we report on magnetic excitations in these nickelates, measured using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Ni L3-edge, to shed light on the material complexity and microscopic physics. Undoped NdNiO2 possesses a branch of dispersive excitations with a bandwidth of approximately 200 meV, reminiscent of strongly-coupled, antiferromagnetically aligned spins on a square lattice, despite a lack of evidence for long range magnetic order. The significant damping of these modes indicates the importance of coupling to rare-earth itinerant electrons. Upon doping, the spectral weight and energy decrease slightly, while the modes become overdamped. Our results highlight the role of Mottness in infinite-layer nickelates.