Confinement-driven transitions between topological and Mott phases in (LaNiO3)${}_N$/(LaAlO3)${}_M$(111) superlattices

Abstract

A set of broken symmetry two-dimensional ground states are predicted in (111)-oriented (LaNiO${}_3$)${}_N$/(LaAlO${}_3$)${}_M$ ($N$/$M$) superlattices, based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations including a Hubbard $U$ term. An unanticipated Jahn-Teller distortion with $d_{z^2}$ orbital polarization and a FM Mott insulating (and multiferroic) phase emerges in the double perovskite (1/1), that shows strong susceptibility to strain-controlled orbital engineering. The LaNiO${}_3$ bilayer with graphene topology has a switchable multiferroic (ferromagnetic (FM) and ferroelectric) insulating ground state with inequivalent Ni sites. Beyond $N=3$ the confined LaNiO${}_3$ slab undergoes a metal-to-insulator transition through a half-semimetallic phase with conduction originating from the interfaces. Antiferromagnetic arrangements allow combining motifs of the bilayer and single trigonal layer band structures in designed artificial mixed phases.

Physical Review B: Rapid Communications (in press)

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• Topological Crystalline Insulators and Dirac Octets in Anti-perovskites
• Orbital Polarization in Strained LaNiO${}_3$: Structural Distortions and Correlation Effects
• Complex magnetic order in nickelate slabs
• Geometrical lattice engineering of complex oxide heterostructures: a designer approach to emergent quantum states
• Topological Phases in Oxide Heterostructures with Light and Heavy Transition Metal Ions
• Electronic structure of buried LaNiO3 layers in (111)-oriented LaNiO3/LaMnO3 superlattices probed by soft x-ray ARPES
• Coupling of electronic and structural degrees of freedom in vanadate superlattices
• First Principles Prediction of Topological Phases in Thin Films of Pyrochlore Iridates