Carrier localization in perovskite nickelates from oxygen vacancies
Abstract
Point defects, such as oxygen vacancies, control the physical properties of complex oxides, relevant in active areas of research from superconductivity to resistive memory to catalysis. In most oxide semiconductors, electrons that are associated with oxygen vacancies occupy the conduction band, leading to an increase in the electrical conductivity. Here we demonstrate, in contrast, that in the correlated-electron perovskite rare-earth nickelates, R NiO 3 ( R is a rare-earth element such as Sm or Nd), electrons associated with oxygen vacancies strongly localize, leading to a dramatic decrease in the electrical conductivity by several orders of magnitude. This unusual behavior is found to stem from the combination of crystal field splitting and filling-controlled Mott–Hubbard electron–electron correlations in the Ni 3 d orbitals. Furthermore, we show the distribution of oxygen vacancies in NdNiO 3 can be controlled via an electric field, leading to analog resistance switching behavior. This study demonstrates the potential of nickelates as testbeds to better understand emergent physics in oxide heterostructures as well as candidate systems in the emerging fields of artificial intelligence.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- National Science Foundation (NSF); US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1570476
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1599062
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357; N00014-17-1-2770; FA9550-16-1-0159; 1609898; W911NF-16-1-0042; DMR-0703406; 1751739; SC0008630; DMR-1610139; 1553251; FA9559-16-1-0172
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Volume: 116 Journal Issue: 44; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
- Publisher:
- National Academy of Sciences
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS; charge localization; nickelates; oxygen deficiency; perovskite
Citation Formats
Kotiuga, Michele, Zhang, Zhen, Li, Jiarui, Rodolakis, Fanny, Zhou, Hua, Sutarto, Ronny, He, Feizhou, Wang, Qi, Sun, Yifei, Wang, Ying, Aghamiri, Neda Alsadat, Hancock, Steven Bennett, Rokhinson, Leonid P., Landau, David P., Abate, Yohannes, Freeland, John W., Comin, Riccardo, Ramanathan, Shriram, and Rabe, Karin M. Carrier localization in perovskite nickelates from oxygen vacancies. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1073/pnas.1910490116.
Kotiuga, Michele, Zhang, Zhen, Li, Jiarui, Rodolakis, Fanny, Zhou, Hua, Sutarto, Ronny, He, Feizhou, Wang, Qi, Sun, Yifei, Wang, Ying, Aghamiri, Neda Alsadat, Hancock, Steven Bennett, Rokhinson, Leonid P., Landau, David P., Abate, Yohannes, Freeland, John W., Comin, Riccardo, Ramanathan, Shriram, & Rabe, Karin M. Carrier localization in perovskite nickelates from oxygen vacancies. United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910490116
Kotiuga, Michele, Zhang, Zhen, Li, Jiarui, Rodolakis, Fanny, Zhou, Hua, Sutarto, Ronny, He, Feizhou, Wang, Qi, Sun, Yifei, Wang, Ying, Aghamiri, Neda Alsadat, Hancock, Steven Bennett, Rokhinson, Leonid P., Landau, David P., Abate, Yohannes, Freeland, John W., Comin, Riccardo, Ramanathan, Shriram, and Rabe, Karin M. Mon .
"Carrier localization in perovskite nickelates from oxygen vacancies". United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910490116.
@article{osti_1570476,
title = {Carrier localization in perovskite nickelates from oxygen vacancies},
author = {Kotiuga, Michele and Zhang, Zhen and Li, Jiarui and Rodolakis, Fanny and Zhou, Hua and Sutarto, Ronny and He, Feizhou and Wang, Qi and Sun, Yifei and Wang, Ying and Aghamiri, Neda Alsadat and Hancock, Steven Bennett and Rokhinson, Leonid P. and Landau, David P. and Abate, Yohannes and Freeland, John W. and Comin, Riccardo and Ramanathan, Shriram and Rabe, Karin M.},
abstractNote = {Point defects, such as oxygen vacancies, control the physical properties of complex oxides, relevant in active areas of research from superconductivity to resistive memory to catalysis. In most oxide semiconductors, electrons that are associated with oxygen vacancies occupy the conduction band, leading to an increase in the electrical conductivity. Here we demonstrate, in contrast, that in the correlated-electron perovskite rare-earth nickelates, R NiO 3 ( R is a rare-earth element such as Sm or Nd), electrons associated with oxygen vacancies strongly localize, leading to a dramatic decrease in the electrical conductivity by several orders of magnitude. This unusual behavior is found to stem from the combination of crystal field splitting and filling-controlled Mott–Hubbard electron–electron correlations in the Ni 3 d orbitals. Furthermore, we show the distribution of oxygen vacancies in NdNiO 3 can be controlled via an electric field, leading to analog resistance switching behavior. This study demonstrates the potential of nickelates as testbeds to better understand emergent physics in oxide heterostructures as well as candidate systems in the emerging fields of artificial intelligence.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1910490116},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
number = 44,
volume = 116,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {10}
}
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910490116
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:

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