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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
The iridium oxide family of correlated electron systems is predicted to host a variety of exotic electronic phases owing to a unique interplay of strong electron-electron interactions and spin-orbit coupling. There is particular interest in the perovskite iridate Sr2IrO4 due to its striking structural and electronic similarities to the parent compound of high-Tc cuprates La2CuO4. Recent observations of Fermi arcs with a pseudogap behavior in doped Sr2IrO4 and the emergence of a d-wave gap at low temperatures further strengthen their phenomenological parallels. In this talk I will describe our recently developed nonlinear optical spectroscopy and wide field microscopy techniques, which are highly sensitive to both the lattice and electronic symmetries of crystals. I will present results on the Sr2IrO4 system that reveal a subtle structural distortion and a hidden odd-parity electronic phase that have previously eluded other experimental probes. I will comment on its relevance to the pseudogap region and also draw comparisons with our recent nonlinear optical data in the pseudogap region of the cuprates.
Host: Filip Ronning