Disentangling structural and electronic properties in V${}_2$O${}_3$ thin films: a genuine non-symmetry breaking Mott transition

Abstract

Phase transitions are key in determining and controlling the quantum properties of correlated materials. Here, by using the powerful combination of precise material synthesis and angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, we show evidence for a genuine Mott transition undressed of any symmetry breaking side effects in the thin-films of V${}_2$O${}_3$. In particular, and in sharp contrast with the bulk V${}_2$O${}_3$ crystals, we unveil the purely electronic dynamics approaching the metal-insulator transition, disentangled from the structural transformation that is prevented by the residual substrate-induced strain. On approaching the transition, the spectral signal evolves surprisingly slowly over a wide temperature range, the Fermi wave-vector does not change, and the critical temperature appears to be much lower than the one reported for the bulk. Our findings are on one side fundamental in demonstrating the universal benchmarks of a genuine non-symmetry breaking Mott transition, extendable to a large array of correlated quantum systems and, on the other, given that the fatal structural breakdown is avoided, they hold promise of exploiting the metal-insulator transition by implementing V${}_2$O${}_3$ thin films in devices.

References in corpus (15)

• Enhanced Crystal Field Splitting and Orbital Selective Coherence by Strong Correlations in V_2O_3
• Approaching finite-temperature phase diagrams of strongly correlated materials: a case study for V2O3
• Ultrafast evolution and transient phases of the prototype out-of-equilibrium Mott-Hubbard material V2O3
• Itinerant ferromagnetism of the Pd-terminated polar surface of PdCoO${}_2$
• Transfer of spectral weight across the gap of Sr2IrO4 induced by La doping
• Metal-Insulator Transition and Lattice Instability of Paramagnetic V2O3
• Surface dead layer for quasiparticles near a Mott transition
• Tuning metal-insulator transitions in epitaxial V${}_2$O${}_3$ thin films
• Controlling Metal-Insulator Transitions in Vanadium Oxide Thin Films by Modifying Oxygen Stoichiometry
• Low-temperature magnetic ordering and structural distortions in Vanadium Sesquioxide (V${}_2$O${}_3$)
• Early-stage dynamics of metallic droplets embedded in the nanotextured Mott insulating phase of V${}_2$O${}_3$
• Fermi Surface of Metallic V${}_2$O${}_3$ from Angle-Resolved Photoemission: Mid-level Filling of $e_g^{\pi }$ Bands
• Frustrated Magnetism in Mott Insulating (V${}_{1-x}$Cr${}_x$)${}_2$O${}_3$
• Imaging the itinerant-to-localized transmutation of electrons across the metal-to-insulator transition in V${}_2$O${}_3$
• Structural dichroism in the antiferromagnetic insulating phase of V${}_2$O${}_3$

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Bilayer orthogonal ferromagnetism in CrTe${}_2$-based van der Waals system