Imaging and manipulation of the competing electronic phases near the Mott metal-insulator transition
- ORNL
Multiple nearly degenerate states in transition-metal oxides (TMOs) produce very complicated phase diagrams1. Small perturbations can often lead to dramatic property change and even exotic functionalities such as superconductivity and colossal magnetoresistance (CMR)2,3,4. Many of these emergent properties displayed by these correlated materials are believed to be intimately associated with the electronic inhomogeneities that can self-organize into spatially separated electronic phases. Direct imaging of the phase separations (PS) has thus become vital to elucidating the underlying mechanisms, and the successful observation of the PS in manganites has led to a breakthrough understanding of CMR5,6. Here, we present real-space visualizations of the PS and the dynamic evolutions of phase domains with strain and temperature in a bilayered ruthenate. Our experimental approach combines electron microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and in-situ electron transport spectroscopy, which provides unprecedented capabilities of imaging PS and interrogating individual microscopic domains in real-space and real-time. A quantitative correlation has been determined between the macroscopic metal-insulator transition (MIT) and the microscopic phase domain percolation near the Mott transition of a Sr3(Ru1-xMnx)2O7. Strikingly, the PS is not associated with inhomogeneous doping and the MIT can be controlled by uniaxial stress, validating the important role of electron-lattice interactions in PS. The dynamics of strain-induced domain evolution exhibits a diffuse phase transition behavior, demonstrating the unconventional phase control of the electronic states with strain in ruthenates.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 974211
- Journal Information:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 107, Issue 12; ISSN 0027-8424
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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