Collective excitations and proximity-induced magnetism in SrIrO3 heterostructures

The observation of proximity-induced magnetism in the semi-metallic perovskite SrIrO3 (I) has gained strong interest with respect to magnetic exchange and elementary excitations in 5d transition metal oxides (TMOs). Thin film superlattices (SLs) comprising I in combination with magnetically active 3d TMOs (X) provide a perfect playground to study the influence of the 3d-5d interaction on magnetism in the spin-orbit coupled material systematically. The narrow low-lying electronic bands and the spin-orbit coupled ground state of I are expected to be influenced significantly in I/X SLs. To analyse the low-lying collective excitations like pseudo-spin- and orbital collective modes in I and the specific influence of the 3d TMO, we propose a systematic investigation by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Ir L3-edge.