Orbital Engineering in Nickelate Heterostructures Driven by Anisotropic Oxygen Hybridization rather than Orbital Energy Levels.
- Fabbris G Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
- Meyers D Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
- Okamoto J National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan.
- Pelliciari J Research Department "Synchrotron Radiation and Nanotechnology", Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Disa AS Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
- Huang Y Research Department "Synchrotron Radiation and Nanotechnology", Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Chen ZY National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan.
- Wu WB National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan.
- Chen CT National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan.
- Ismail-Beigi S Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
- Ahn CH Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
- Walker FJ Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
- Huang DJ National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan.
- Schmitt T Research Department "Synchrotron Radiation and Nanotechnology", Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Dean MP Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
- 2016-10-15
Published in:
- Physical review letters. - 2016
English
Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering is used to investigate the electronic origin of orbital polarization in nickelate heterostructures taking LaTiO_{3}-LaNiO_{3}-3×(LaAlO_{3}), a system with exceptionally large polarization, as a model system. 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 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.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- hybrid
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.147401
- PMID 27740843
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/173158
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