Magneto-Synthesis of Metastable Metallic States in a Spin-Orbit-Coupled Trimer Iridate*

BaIrO₃ is a compound of interest, given that trimer lattices allow for more internal degrees of freedom than usual crystal field levels. Growing BaIrO₃ inside weak magnetic fields (<0.1T) during all stages of the crystal growth impacts the structural electronic state of the material. Through single-crystal X-ray diffraction, it is demonstrated that there is a reduction in bond length and an increase in the Ir-Ir bond angle, leading to a more stable, less distorted crystal lattice. These structural changes impacted the physical and magnetic properties of the sample. The crystal is now in a metastable metallic phase, with an insulator-to-metal transition. Low-temperature specific heat reveals an enhancement in the Sommerfeld coefficient (γ ≈ 37 mJ/mol·K²). Electrical resistivity drops by up to four orders of magnitude. Sample growth inside relatively weak magnetic fields still majorly impacted the lattice structure, leading to changes in the physical and magnetic properties, proving that magento-synthesis is an interesting, effective new synthesis technique. Additionally, this project investigates how the structure and properties of the crystal change when bisumuth is doped into the barium site. Comparing the magneto-synthesized and regularly synthesized Ba_1-xBi_xIrO₃ system.