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arXiv · 1304.5864

Persistent non-metallic behavior in Sr2IrO4 and Sr3Ir2O7 at high pressures

Abstract

Iridium-based 5d transition-metal oxides are attractive candidates for the study of correlated electronic states due to the interplay of enhanced crystal-field, Coulomb and spin-orbit interaction energies. At ambient pressure, these conditions promote a novel Jeff = 1/2 Mott insulating state, characterized by a gap of the order of ~0.1 eV. We present high-pressure electrical resistivity measurements of single crystals of Sr2IrO4 and Sr3Ir2O7. While no indications of a pressure-induced metallic state up to 55 GPa were found in Sr2IrO4, a strong decrease of the gap energy and of the resistance of Sr3Ir2O7 between ambient pressure and 104 GPa confirm that this compound is in the proximity of a metal-insulator transition.

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D. A. Zocco, J. J. Hamlin, B. D. White, B. J. Kim, J. R. Jeffries, S. T. Weir, Y. K. Vohra, J. W. Allen, M. B. Maple. 2014-06-04. Persistent non-metallic behavior in Sr2IrO4 and Sr3Ir2O7 at high pressures. https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984%2F26%2F25%2F255603

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