First-order metal–ferromagnetic insulator phase transition induced by Rashba spin-orbit coupling on the puckered honeycomb lattice

Abstract

We investigate the first-order metal–ferromagnetic insulator phase transition on the puckered honeycomb lattice, combining the cellular dynamical mean field theory with the continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo method. By analyzing the interplay among intrinsic spin–orbit coupling (SOC), Rashba SOC and on-site interaction, we show that the ferromagnetic (FM) order and the antiferromagnetic (AFM) order occur in different regimes. Rashba SOC allows the electron spin flipping, which leads to the phase transition from the metal to FM insulator induced by the increasing on-site interaction. In contrast to the usual continuous metal–antiferromagnetic insulator phase transition, we find that the metal–ferromagnetic insulator transition is first-order by computing the double occupancy. Furthermore, the complete phase diagrams of the Rashba SOC, on-site interaction and temperature are also demonstrated.