X-ray scattering study of pyrochlore iridates: Crystal structure, electronic, and magnetic excitations

We have investigated the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of the pyrochlore iridates Eu2Ir2O7 and Pr2Ir2O7 using a combination of resonant elastic x-ray scattering, x-ray powder diffraction, and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). The structural parameters of Eu2Ir2O7 have been examined as a function of temperature and applied pressure, with a particular emphasis on regions of the phase diagram where electronic and magnetic phase transitions have been reported. We find no evidence of crystal symmetry change over the range of temperatures (∼6 to 300 K) and pressures (∼0.1 to 17 GPa) studied. We have also investigated the electronic and magnetic excitations in single-crystal samples of Eu2Ir2O7 and Pr2Ir2O7 using high-resolution Ir L3-edge RIXS. In spite of very different ground state properties, we find that these materials exhibit qualitatively similar excitation spectra, with crystal field excitations at ∼3–5 eV, spin-orbit excitations at ∼0.5–1 eV, and broad low-lying excitations below ∼0.15 eV. In single-crystal samples of “Eu-rich” Eu2Ir2O7 (found to possess an actual stoichiometry of Eu2.18Ir1.82O7.06) we observe highly damped magnetic excitations at ∼45 meV, which display significant momentum dependence. We compare these results with recent dynamical structure factor calculations.