Dimensionality-driven metal-insulator-transition in spin-orbit coupled SrIrO${}_3$

Abstract

Upon reduction of the film thickness we observe a metal-insulator transition in epitaxially stabilized, spin-orbit coupled SrIrO${}_3$ ultrathin films. By comparison of the experimental electronic dispersions with density functional theory at various levels of complexity we identify the leading microscopic mechanisms, i.e., a dimensionality-induced re-adjustment of octahedral rotations, magnetism, and electronic correlations. The astonishing resemblance of the band structure in the two-dimensional limit to that of bulk Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ opens new avenues to unconventional superconductivity by "clean" electron doping through electric field gating.

6 pages, 4 figures, cf. arXiv:1706.08901 for a recent complementary study

References in corpus (10)

• Mott Insulators in the Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling Limit: From Heisenberg to a Quantum Compass and Kitaev Models
• Novel Jeff = 1/2 Mott State Induced by Relativistic Spin-Orbit Coupling in Sr2IrO4
• Bandwidth-Controlled Insulator-Metal Transition and Correlated Metallic State in 5$d$ Transition Metal Oxides Sr${}_{n+1}$Ir${}_n$O${}_{3n+1}$ ($n$=1, 2, and $\infty$)
• Unfolding first-principles band structures
• Fermi Arcs in a Doped Pseudospin-1/2 Heisenberg Antiferromagnet
• Interplay of Spin-Orbit Interactions, Dimensionality, and Octahedral Rotations in Semimetallic SrIrO${}_3$
• Dimensionality Driven Spin-Flop Transition in Layered Iridates
• Spin-orbit semimetal SrIrO${}_3$ in the two-dimensional limit
• Dimensionality-strain phase diagram of strontium iridates
• Three-dimensional electronic structures and the metal-insulator transition in Ruddlesden-Popper iridates

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Spin-orbit semimetal SrIrO${}_3$ in the two-dimensional limit
• Electron-polaron dichotomy of charge carriers in perovskite oxides
• Perovskite oxide heterojunction for Rashba-Dresselhaus assisted antiferromagnetic spintronics
• Spin-orbit effects in pentavalent Iridates: Models and materials
• Anomalous Magnetoresistance due to Longitudinal Spin Fluctuations in a Jeff = 1/2 Mott Semiconductor
• Interface induced exchange bias effect in La${}_{0.67}$Sr${}_{0.33}$MnO${}_3$/SrIrO${}_3$ multilayer
• Toward Functionalized Ultrathin Oxide Films: the Impact of Surface Apical Oxygen
• Suppression of twinning and enhanced electronic anisotropy of SrIrO3 films
• Magnetotransport of SrIrO3 films on (110) DyScO3
• Anomalous pressure dependence of the electronic transport and anisotropy in SrIrO3 films
• Hidden structural transition in epitaxial Ca${}_{0.5}$Sr${}_{0.5}$IrO${}_3$/SrTiO${}_3$ thin film
• Observation of metallic electronic structure in a single-atomic-layer oxide
• Growth-sequence-dependent interface magnetism of SrIrO${}_3$ - La${}_{0.7}$Sr${}_{0.3}$MnO${}_3$ bilayers