Designing light-element materials with large effective spin-orbit coupling

Abstract

Spin-orbit coupling (SOC), which is the core of many condensed-matter phenomena such as nontrivial band gap and magnetocrystalline anisotropy, is generally considered appreciable only in heavy elements. This is detrimental to the synthesis and application of functional materials. Therefore, amplifying the SOC effect in light elements is crucial. Herein, focusing on 3d and 4d systems, we demonstrate that the interplay between crystal symmetry and electron correlation can significantly enhance the SOC effect in certain partially occupied orbital multiplets through the self-consistently reinforced orbital polarization as a pivot. Thereafter, we provide design principles and comprehensive databases, where we list all the Wyckoff positions and site symmetries in all two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional crystals that could have enhanced SOC effect. Additionally, we predict nine material candidates from our selected 2D material pool as high-temperature quantum anomalous Hall insulators with large nontrivial band gaps of hundreds of meV. Our study provides an efficient and straightforward way for predicting promising SOC-active materials, relieving the use of heavy elements for next-generation spin-orbitronic materials and devices.