Physics of Spin-Orbit-Coupled Oxides

Most of the literature (prior to 2010) concerning the physics and chemistry of transition metal oxides was dominated by compounds of the 3d-transition elements. These materials exhibit many interesting and technologically important phenomena that include giant magnetoresistance in manganites, and high-temperature superconductivity in alloys of La2CuO4 and related cuprates. The discovery in 1994 of an exotic form of low-temperature superconductivity in Sr2RuO4 shifted some interest toward ruthenates. However, the realization in 2008 that a novel mechanism of the classic Mott metal-insulator transition was at play in Sr2IrO4 provided additional impetus for studies of the influence of strong spin-orbit interactions in