Nano-Resolved Current-Induced Insulator-Metal Transition in the Mott Insulator Ca2RuO4

Jiawei Zhang; Alexander S. McLeod; Qiang Han; Xinzhong Chen; Hans A. Bechtel; Ziheng Yao; S. N. Gilbert Corder; Thomas Ciavatti; Tiger H. Tao; Meigan Aronson; G. L. Carr; Michael C. Martin; Chanchal Sow; Shingo Yonezawa; Fumihiko Nakamura; Ichiro Terasaki; D. N. Basov; Andrew J. Millis; Yoshiteru Maeno; Mengkun Liu

doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.9.011032

Nano-Resolved Current-Induced Insulator-Metal Transition in the Mott Insulator Ca2RuO4

Jiawei Zhang, Alexander S. McLeod, Qiang Han, Xinzhong Chen, Hans A. Bechtel, Ziheng Yao, S. N. Gilbert Corder, Thomas Ciavatti, Tiger H. Tao, Meigan Aronson, G. L. Carr, Michael C. Martin, Chanchal Sow, Shingo Yonezawa, Fumihiko Nakamura, Ichiro Terasaki, D. N. Basov, Andrew J. Millis, Yoshiteru Maeno, Mengkun Liu

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Abstract

The Mott insulator Ca2RuO4 is the subject of much recent attention following reports of emergent nonequilibrium steady states driven by applied electric fields or currents. In this paper, we carry out infrared nano-imaging and optical-microscopy measurements on bulk single crystal Ca2RuO4 under conditions of steady current flow to obtain insight into the current-driven insulator-to-metal transition. We observe macroscopic growth of the current-induced metallic phase, with nucleation regions for metal and insulator phases determined by the polarity of the current flow. A remarkable metal-insulator-metal microstripe pattern is observed at the phase front separating metal and insulator phases. The microstripes have orientations tied uniquely to the crystallographic axes, implying a strong coupling of the electronic transition to lattice degrees of freedom. Theoretical modeling further illustrates the importance of the current density and confirms a submicron-thick surface metallic layer at the phase front of the bulk metallic phase. Our work confirms that the electrically induced metallic phase is nonfilamentary and is not driven by Joule heating, revealing remarkable new characteristics of electrically induced insulator-metal transitions occurring in functional correlated oxides.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	011032
Journal	Physical Review X
Volume	9
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.9.011032
State	Published - Feb 15 2019
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (No. JP15H05851, No. JP15H05852, No. JP15K21717, and No. JP17H06136) and the JSPS Core-to-Core program. C. S. acknowledges support of the JSPS International Research Fellowship (No. JP17F17027). A. S. M. and D. N. B. are supported by DOE-BES GrantNo. DE-SC0012375. D. N. B. is supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative through Grant No. GBMF4533. The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of M. Raschke and his group in developing the SINS instrument at the Advanced Light Source. The Advanced Light Source is supported by the Director, Ofice of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. G. L. C. acknowledges DOE DE-SC0012704. The work of A. J. M. and Q. H. was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DE-SC-0012375.

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© 2019 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the »https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/» Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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Zhang, J., McLeod, A. S., Han, Q., Chen, X., Bechtel, H. A., Yao, Z., Gilbert Corder, S. N., Ciavatti, T., Tao, T. H., Aronson, M., Carr, G. L., Martin, M. C., Sow, C., Yonezawa, S., Nakamura, F., Terasaki, I., Basov, D. N., Millis, A. J., Maeno, Y., & Liu, M. (2019). Nano-Resolved Current-Induced Insulator-Metal Transition in the Mott Insulator Ca2RuO4. Physical Review X, 9(1), Article 011032. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.9.011032

Zhang, J, McLeod, AS, Han, Q, Chen, X, Bechtel, HA, Yao, Z, Gilbert Corder, SN, Ciavatti, T, Tao, TH, Aronson, M, Carr, GL, Martin, MC, Sow, C, Yonezawa, S, Nakamura, F, Terasaki, I, Basov, DN, Millis, AJ, Maeno, Y & Liu, M 2019, 'Nano-Resolved Current-Induced Insulator-Metal Transition in the Mott Insulator Ca2RuO4', Physical Review X, vol. 9, no. 1, 011032. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.9.011032

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title = "Nano-Resolved Current-Induced Insulator-Metal Transition in the Mott Insulator Ca2RuO4",

abstract = "The Mott insulator Ca2RuO4 is the subject of much recent attention following reports of emergent nonequilibrium steady states driven by applied electric fields or currents. In this paper, we carry out infrared nano-imaging and optical-microscopy measurements on bulk single crystal Ca2RuO4 under conditions of steady current flow to obtain insight into the current-driven insulator-to-metal transition. We observe macroscopic growth of the current-induced metallic phase, with nucleation regions for metal and insulator phases determined by the polarity of the current flow. A remarkable metal-insulator-metal microstripe pattern is observed at the phase front separating metal and insulator phases. The microstripes have orientations tied uniquely to the crystallographic axes, implying a strong coupling of the electronic transition to lattice degrees of freedom. Theoretical modeling further illustrates the importance of the current density and confirms a submicron-thick surface metallic layer at the phase front of the bulk metallic phase. Our work confirms that the electrically induced metallic phase is nonfilamentary and is not driven by Joule heating, revealing remarkable new characteristics of electrically induced insulator-metal transitions occurring in functional correlated oxides.",

author = "Jiawei Zhang and McLeod, {Alexander S.} and Qiang Han and Xinzhong Chen and Bechtel, {Hans A.} and Ziheng Yao and {Gilbert Corder}, {S. N.} and Thomas Ciavatti and Tao, {Tiger H.} and Meigan Aronson and Carr, {G. L.} and Martin, {Michael C.} and Chanchal Sow and Shingo Yonezawa and Fumihiko Nakamura and Ichiro Terasaki and Basov, {D. N.} and Millis, {Andrew J.} and Yoshiteru Maeno and Mengkun Liu",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (No. JP15H05851, No. JP15H05852, No. JP15K21717, and No. JP17H06136) and the JSPS Core-to-Core program. C. S. acknowledges support of the JSPS International Research Fellowship (No. JP17F17027). A. S. M. and D. N. B. are supported by DOE-BES GrantNo. DE-SC0012375. D. N. B. is supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative through Grant No. GBMF4533. The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of M. Raschke and his group in developing the SINS instrument at the Advanced Light Source. The Advanced Light Source is supported by the Director, Ofice of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. G. L. C. acknowledges DOE DE-SC0012704. The work of A. J. M. and Q. H. was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DE-SC-0012375. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the »https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/» Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.",

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AU - Chen, Xinzhong

AU - Bechtel, Hans A.

AU - Yao, Ziheng

AU - Gilbert Corder, S. N.

AU - Ciavatti, Thomas

AU - Tao, Tiger H.

AU - Aronson, Meigan

AU - Carr, G. L.

AU - Martin, Michael C.

AU - Sow, Chanchal

AU - Yonezawa, Shingo

AU - Nakamura, Fumihiko

AU - Terasaki, Ichiro

AU - Basov, D. N.

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AU - Maeno, Yoshiteru

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N2 - The Mott insulator Ca2RuO4 is the subject of much recent attention following reports of emergent nonequilibrium steady states driven by applied electric fields or currents. In this paper, we carry out infrared nano-imaging and optical-microscopy measurements on bulk single crystal Ca2RuO4 under conditions of steady current flow to obtain insight into the current-driven insulator-to-metal transition. We observe macroscopic growth of the current-induced metallic phase, with nucleation regions for metal and insulator phases determined by the polarity of the current flow. A remarkable metal-insulator-metal microstripe pattern is observed at the phase front separating metal and insulator phases. The microstripes have orientations tied uniquely to the crystallographic axes, implying a strong coupling of the electronic transition to lattice degrees of freedom. Theoretical modeling further illustrates the importance of the current density and confirms a submicron-thick surface metallic layer at the phase front of the bulk metallic phase. Our work confirms that the electrically induced metallic phase is nonfilamentary and is not driven by Joule heating, revealing remarkable new characteristics of electrically induced insulator-metal transitions occurring in functional correlated oxides.

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Nano-Resolved Current-Induced Insulator-Metal Transition in the Mott Insulator Ca2RuO4

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