Pattern Formation by Electric-field Quench in Mott Crystal

Abstract

The control of Mott phase is intertwined with the spatial reorganization of the electronic states. Out-of-equilibrium driving forces typically lead to electronic patterns that are absent at equilibrium, whose nature is however often elusive. Here, we unveil a nanoscale pattern formation in the Ca${}_2$RuO${}_4$ Mott insulator. We demonstrate how an applied electric field spatially reconstructs the insulating phase that, uniquely after switching off the electric field, exhibits nanoscale stripe domains. The stripe pattern has regions with inequivalent octahedral distortions that we directly observe through high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. The nanotexture depends on the orientation of the electric field, it is non-volatile and rewritable. We theoretically simulate the charge and orbital reconstruction induced by a quench dynamics of the applied electric field providing clear-cut mechanisms for the stripe phase formation. Our results open the path for the design of non-volatile electronics based on voltage-controlled nanometric phases.

arXiv comment14 pages, 9 figures

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Orbital-selective altermagnetism and correlation-enhanced spin-splitting in transition metal oxides
• Mott-Insulator Ca2RuO4 under a static external electric field
• Orbital-selective metal skin induced by alkali-metal-dosing Mott-insulating Ca${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Emerging new phases in correlated Mott insulator Ca2RuO4
• Challenges in extracting nonlinear current-induced phenomena in Ca2RuO4
• Quantum anomalous Hall domains in a Quenched Topological Mott Insulator