The pseudochiral Fermi surface of α-RuI3

Abstract

In continuation of research into RuCl3 and RuBr3 as potential quantum spin liquids, a phase with unique magnetic order characterised by long-range quantum entanglement and fractionalised excitations, the compound RuI3 has been recently synthesised. Here, we show RuI3 is a moderately correlated metal with two bands crossing the Fermi level, implying the absence of any quantum spin liquids phase. We find that the Fermi surface as measured or calculated for a 2D (kx, ky) slice at any kz lacks mirror symmetry, i.e. is pseudochiral. We link this phenomenon to the ABC stacking in the R3¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\bar{3}$$\\end{document} space group of α-RuI3, which is achiral but lacks any mirror or glide symmetries. We further provide a formal framework for understanding when such a pseudochiral electronic structure may be observed.