Large orbital polarization in nickelate-cuprate heterostructures by dimensional control of oxygen coordination

Zhaoliang Liao, Elizabeth Skoropata, J. W. Freeland, Er-Jia Guo, Ryan Desautels, Xiang Gao, Changhee Sohn, Ankur Rastogi, T. Zac Ward, Tao Zou, Timothy Charlton, Michael R. Fitzsimmons and Ho Nyung Lee ()
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Zhaoliang Liao: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Elizabeth Skoropata: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
J. W. Freeland: Argonne National Laboratory
Er-Jia Guo: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Ryan Desautels: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Xiang Gao: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Changhee Sohn: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Ankur Rastogi: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
T. Zac Ward: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Tao Zou: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Timothy Charlton: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Michael R. Fitzsimmons: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Ho Nyung Lee: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Artificial heterostructures composed of dissimilar transition metal oxides provide unprecedented opportunities to create remarkable physical phenomena. Here, we report a means to deliberately control the orbital polarization in LaNiO3 (LNO) through interfacing with SrCuO2 (SCO), which has an infinite-layer structure for CuO2. Dimensional control of SCO results in a planar-type (P–SCO) to chain-type (C–SCO) structure transition depending on the SCO thickness. This transition is exploited to induce either a NiO5 pyramidal or a NiO6 octahedral structure at the SCO/LNO interface. Consequently, a large change in the Ni d orbital occupation up to ~30% is achieved in P–SCO/LNO superlattices, whereas the Ni eg orbital splitting is negligible in C–SCO/LNO superlattices. The engineered oxygen coordination triggers a metal-to-insulator transition in SCO/LNO superlattices. Our results demonstrate that interfacial oxygen coordination engineering provides an effective means to manipulate the orbital configuration and associated physical properties, paving a pathway towards the advancement of oxide electronics.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08472-y

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