Pressure-Induced Confined Metal from the Mott Insulator
The spin-orbit Mott insulator Sr3Ir2O7 provides a fascinating playground to explore insulator-metal transition driven by intertwined charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom. Here, we report high-pressure electric resistance and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering measurements on single-crystal Sr3Ir2O7 up to 63-65 GPa at 300 K. The material becomes a confined metal at 59.5 GPa, showing metallicity in the ab plane but an insulating behavior along the c axis. Such an unusual phenomenon resembles the strange metal phase in cuprate superconductors. Since there is no sign of the collapse of spin-orbit or Coulomb interactions in x-ray measurements, this novel insulator-metal transition is potentially driven by a first-order structural change at nearby pressures. Our discovery points to a new approach for synthesizing functional materials.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division; National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF); Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC); Northern Illinois University
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 1274418
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 116, Issue 21; ISSN 0031-9007
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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