Reversible modulation of orbital occupations via an interface-induced state in metallic manganites

Abstract

The breaking of orbital degeneracy on a transition metal cation and the resulting unequal electronic occupations of these orbitals provide a powerful lever over electron density and spin ordering inmetal oxides. Here, we use ab initio calculations to show that reversibly modulating the orbital populations on Mn atoms can be achieved at ferroelectric/manganite interfaces by the presence of ferroelectric polarization on the nanoscale. The change in orbital occupation can be as large as 10%, greatly exceeding that of bulk manganites. This reversible orbital splitting is in large part controlled by the propagation of ferroelectric polar displacements into the interfacial region, a structural motif absent in the bulk and unique to the interface. We use epitaxial thin film growth and scanning transmission electron microscopy to verify this key interfacial polar distortion and discuss the potential of reversible control of orbital polarization via nanoscale ferroelectrics.

This version is to replace the old submission arXiv:1309.2976 (withdrawn). We have made substantial revision and improvement in the new version

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Cited by in corpus (14)

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• Disentangling lattice and electronic contributions to the metal-insulator transition from bulk vs. layer confined RNiO${}_3$
• Enhancing interfacial magnetization with a ferroelectric
• Depth profiling charge accumulation from a ferroelectric into a doped Mott insulator
• Thickness-dependent self-polarization-induced intrinsic magnetoelectric effects in La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 heterostructures
• Trigonal Symmetry Breaking and its Electronic Effects in Two-Dimensional Dihalides and Trihalides
• Control of magnetic anisotropy by orbital hybridization in (La0.67Sr0.33MnO3)n/(SrTiO3)n superlattice
• Novel magneto-electric multiferroics from first-principles
• Electric field control of photoinduced effect in La${}_{0.7}$Sr${}_{0.3}$MnO${}_3$/LaTiO${}_3$/SrTiO${}_3$ heterostructure
• High resolution depth profiling using near-total-reflection hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• Tuning the Interfacial Charge, Orbital and Spin Polarization Properties in La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/ La1-xSrxMnO3 Bilayers