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Title: Hallmarks of the Mott-metal crossover in the hole-doped pseudospin-1/2 Mott insulator Sr2IrO4

Abstract

The physics of doped Mott insulators remains controversial after decades of active research, hindered by the interplay among competing orders and fluctuations. It is thus highly desired to distinguish the intrinsic characters of the Mott-metal crossover from those of other origins. Here we investigate the evolution of electronic structure and dynamics of the hole-doped pseudospin-1/2 Mott insulator Sr 2 IrO 4 . The effective hole doping is achieved by replacing Ir with Rh atoms, with the chemical potential immediately jumping to or near the top of the lower Hubbard band. The doped iridates exhibit multiple iconic low-energy features previously observed in doped cuprates - pseudogaps, Fermi arcs and marginal-Fermi-liquid-like electronic scattering rates. We suggest these signatures are most likely an integral part of the material's proximity to the Mott state, rather than from many of the most claimed mechanisms, including preformed electron pairing, quantum criticality or density-wave formation.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [1];  [5];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Dept. of Physics
  2. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Dept. of Physics; Incheon National Univ. (Korea). Dept. of Physics
  3. Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland). Swiss Light Source
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source
  5. Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States). Center for Advanced Materials
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1379297
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231; FG0203ER4606; FG02-10ER46686; DMR-0537588
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nature Communications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; electronic properties and materials; electronic structure

Citation Formats

Cao, Yue, Wang, Qiang, Waugh, Justin A., Reber, Theodore J., Li, Haoxiang, Zhou, Xiaoqing, Parham, Stephen, Park, S. -R., Plumb, Nicholas C., Rotenberg, Eli, Bostwick, Aaron, Denlinger, Jonathan D., Qi, Tongfei, Hermele, Michael A., Cao, Gang, and Dessau, Daniel S. Hallmarks of the Mott-metal crossover in the hole-doped pseudospin-1/2 Mott insulator Sr2IrO4. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1038/ncomms11367.
Cao, Yue, Wang, Qiang, Waugh, Justin A., Reber, Theodore J., Li, Haoxiang, Zhou, Xiaoqing, Parham, Stephen, Park, S. -R., Plumb, Nicholas C., Rotenberg, Eli, Bostwick, Aaron, Denlinger, Jonathan D., Qi, Tongfei, Hermele, Michael A., Cao, Gang, & Dessau, Daniel S. Hallmarks of the Mott-metal crossover in the hole-doped pseudospin-1/2 Mott insulator Sr2IrO4. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11367
Cao, Yue, Wang, Qiang, Waugh, Justin A., Reber, Theodore J., Li, Haoxiang, Zhou, Xiaoqing, Parham, Stephen, Park, S. -R., Plumb, Nicholas C., Rotenberg, Eli, Bostwick, Aaron, Denlinger, Jonathan D., Qi, Tongfei, Hermele, Michael A., Cao, Gang, and Dessau, Daniel S. 2016. "Hallmarks of the Mott-metal crossover in the hole-doped pseudospin-1/2 Mott insulator Sr2IrO4". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11367. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1379297.
@article{osti_1379297,
title = {Hallmarks of the Mott-metal crossover in the hole-doped pseudospin-1/2 Mott insulator Sr2IrO4},
author = {Cao, Yue and Wang, Qiang and Waugh, Justin A. and Reber, Theodore J. and Li, Haoxiang and Zhou, Xiaoqing and Parham, Stephen and Park, S. -R. and Plumb, Nicholas C. and Rotenberg, Eli and Bostwick, Aaron and Denlinger, Jonathan D. and Qi, Tongfei and Hermele, Michael A. and Cao, Gang and Dessau, Daniel S.},
abstractNote = {The physics of doped Mott insulators remains controversial after decades of active research, hindered by the interplay among competing orders and fluctuations. It is thus highly desired to distinguish the intrinsic characters of the Mott-metal crossover from those of other origins. Here we investigate the evolution of electronic structure and dynamics of the hole-doped pseudospin-1/2 Mott insulator Sr 2 IrO 4 . The effective hole doping is achieved by replacing Ir with Rh atoms, with the chemical potential immediately jumping to or near the top of the lower Hubbard band. The doped iridates exhibit multiple iconic low-energy features previously observed in doped cuprates - pseudogaps, Fermi arcs and marginal-Fermi-liquid-like electronic scattering rates. We suggest these signatures are most likely an integral part of the material's proximity to the Mott state, rather than from many of the most claimed mechanisms, including preformed electron pairing, quantum criticality or density-wave formation.},
doi = {10.1038/ncomms11367},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1379297}, journal = {Nature Communications},
issn = {2041-1723},
number = ,
volume = 7,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 22 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Fri Apr 22 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Spectroscopic Studies on the Metal-Insulator Transition Mechanism in Correlated Materials
journal, May 2018


A charge density wave-like instability in a doped spin–orbit-assisted weak Mott insulator
journal, January 2017


Atomic-scale fragmentation and collapse of antiferromagnetic order in a doped Mott insulator
journal, October 2019


Spin-orbit-controlled metal–insulator transition in Sr2IrO4
journal, January 2020


Determination of the local structure of Sr 2−x M x IrO 4 (M = K, La) as a function of doping and temperature
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Disorder induced power-law gaps in an insulator–metal Mott transition
journal, October 2018


Ultrafast magnetodynamics with free-electron lasers
journal, January 2018


Decoupling of magnetism and electric transport in single-crystal (Sr 1− x A x ) 2 IrO 4 (A  =  Ca or Ba)
journal, May 2018


Preferential quenching of 5 d antiferromagnetic order in Sr 3 (Ir 1− x Mn x ) 2 O 7
journal, April 2019


The challenge of spin–orbit-tuned ground states in iridates: a key issues review
journal, February 2018


Electronic structure and optical properties of Sr 2 IrO 4 under epitaxial strain
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Interface-engineered hole doping in Sr 2 IrO 4 /LaNiO 3 heterostructure
journal, October 2019


Spin-orbit entangled j = 1 2 moments in Ba 2 CeIrO 6 : A frustrated fcc quantum magnet
journal, August 2019


Magnetic excitations in hole-doped Sr 2 IrO 4 : Comparison with electron-doped cuprates
journal, September 2019


Suppression of the orbital magnetic moment driven by electronic correlations in Sr 4 Ru 3 O 10
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Anisotropic softening of magnetic excitations in lightly electron-doped Sr 2 IrO 4
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Charge partitioning and anomalous hole doping in Rh-doped Sr 2 IrO 4
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Anisotropic exchange and spin-wave damping in pure and electron-doped Sr 2 IrO 4
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Formation of an incoherent metallic state in Rh-doped Sr 2 IrO 4
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Conductivity Spectrum of Ultracold Atoms in an Optical Lattice
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Author Correction: Fermiology and electron dynamics of trilayer nickelate La4Ni3O10
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Infrared probe of pseudogap in electron-doped Sr2IrO4
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Magnetism in iridate heterostructures leveraged by structural distortions
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