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Title: Orbital Engineering in Nickelate Heterostructures Driven by Anisotropic Oxygen Hybridization rather than Orbital Energy Levels

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [5];  [5];  [4];  [6];  [3];  [1]
  1. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Dept. of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science
  2. National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu (Taiwan)
  3. Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland). Research Dept.
  4. Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States). Dept. of Applied Physics
  5. Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States). Dept. of Applied Physics and Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
  6. National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu (Taiwan); National Tsing Hua Univ., Hsinchu (Taiwan). Dept. of Physics

We used resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to investigate the electronic origin of orbital polarization in nickelate heterostructures taking LaTiO3-LaNiO3-3×(LaAlO3), a system with exceptionally large polarization, as a model system. Furthermore, we find that heterostructuring generates only minor changes in the Ni 3d orbital energy levels, contradicting the often-invoked picture in which changes in orbital energy levels generate orbital polarization. Instead, O K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy demonstrates that orbital polarization is caused by an anisotropic reconstruction of the oxygen ligand hole states. This also provides an explanation for the limited success of theoretical predictions based on tuning orbital energy levels and implies that future theories should focus on anisotropic hybridization as the most effective means to drive large changes in electronic structure and realize novel emergent phenomena.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC00112704; 1047478
OSTI ID:
1336148
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1327546
Report Number(s):
BNL-112639-2016-JA; PRLTAO; R&D Project: PO011; KC0201060
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 117, Issue 14; ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 25 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

Ground-state oxygen holes and the metal–insulator transition in the negative charge-transfer rare-earth nickelates journal October 2016
Large orbital polarization in nickelate-cuprate heterostructures by dimensional control of oxygen coordination journal February 2019
Low-energy orbital excitations in strained LaCoO 3 films journal October 2019
Hybridization-Switching Induced Mott Transition in A B O 3 Perovskites journal January 2019
Digital modulation of the nickel valence state in a cuprate-nickelate heterostructure text January 2017
Emergent c-axis magnetic helix in manganite-nickelate superlattices text January 2018
Epitaxial strain modulated electronic properties of interface controlled nickelate superlattice text January 2018

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