Coupling Lattice Instabilities across the Interface in Ultrathin Oxide Heterostructures

Thierry C. Van Thiel*, Jennifer Fowlie, Carmine Autieri, Nicola Manca, Makars Šiškins, Dmytro Afanasiev, Stefano Gariglio, Andrea D. Caviglia

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)
110 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Oxide heterointerfaces constitute a rich platform for realizing novel functionalities in condensed matter. A key aspect is the strong link between structural and electronic properties, which can be modified by interfacing materials with distinct lattice symmetries. Here, we determine the effect of the cubic-tetragonal distortion of SrTiO3 on the electronic properties of thin films of SrIrO3, a topological crystalline metal hosting a delicate interplay between spin-orbit coupling and electronic correlations. We demonstrate that below the transition temperature at 105 K, SrIrO3 orthorhombic domains couple directly to tetragonal domains in SrTiO3. This forces the in-phase rotational axis to lie in-plane and creates a binary domain structure in the SrIrO3 film. The close proximity to the metal-insulator transition in ultrathin SrIrO3 causes the individual domains to have strongly anisotropic transport properties, driven by a reduction of bandwidth along the in-phase axis. The strong structure-property relationships in perovskites make these compounds particularly suitable for static and dynamic coupling at interfaces, providing a promising route towards realizing novel functionalities in oxide heterostructures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)389-394
JournalACS Materials Letters
Volume2
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

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