An atomically controlled insulator-to-metal transition in iridate/manganite heterostructures
All-insulator heterostructures with an emerging metallicity are at the forefront of material science, which typically contain at least one band insulator while it is not necessary to be. Here we show emergent phenomena in a series of all-correlated-insulator heterostructures that composed of insulating CaIrO<sub>3</sub> and insulating La<sub>0.67</sub>Sr<sub>0.33</sub>MnO<sub>3</sub>. We observed an intriguing insulator-to-metal transition, that depends delicately on the thickness of the iridate component. The simultaneous enhancements of magnetization, electric conductivity, and magnetoresistance effect indicate a percolation-type nature of the insulator-to-metal transition, with the percolation threshold can be reached at an exceptionally low volume fraction of the iridate. Such a drastic transition is induced by an interfacial charge transfer, which interestingly alters the electronic and crystalline structures of the bulk region rather than the limited ultrathin interface. We further showcased the central role of effective correlation in modulating the insulator-to-metal transition, by demonstrating that the critical thickness of iridate for triggering the metallic state can be systematically reduced down to a single unit-cell layer.
Authors
- Dongsheng Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1975-7671)
- Enyang Men (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8397-3835)
- Hyoungjeen Jeen
- Chuanying Xi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3179-7019)
- Jingxin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5570-3307)
- Lin Hao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3393-0672)
- Yuhan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1324-5819)
- Haiyang Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3303-8975)
- Kai Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7667-3063)
- Long Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7138-6532)
- Hong Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8732-1250)
- Deyang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8694-3557)
- Zhaosheng Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7311-4015)
- Zhihan Qiao
Institutions
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Anhui University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Beijing Normal University (CN)
- Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (CN)
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory (CN)
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (CN)
- Pusan National University (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-09-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52616-8
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.62
Funders
- Salt Science Research Foundation
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences