The J eff=1/2 insulator Sr 3Ir 2O 7 studied by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

The low-energy electronic structure of the J eff=1/2 spinorbit insulator Sr 3Ir 2O 7 has been studied by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. A comparison of the results for bilayer Sr 3Ir 2O 7 with available literature data for the related single-layer compound Sr2IrO4 reveals qualitative similarities and similar J eff=1/2 bandwidths for the two materials, but also pronounced differences in the distribution of the spectral weight. In particular, photoemission from the J eff=1/2 states appears to be suppressed. Yet, it is found that the Sr 3Ir 2O 7 data are in overall better agreement with band-structure calculations than the data for Sr 2IrO 4. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.