Heteroanionic Stabilization of Ni$^{1+}$ with Nonplanar Coordination in Layered Nickelates

Abstract

We present electronic structure calculations on layered nickelate oxyfluorides derived from the Ruddlesden-Popper arisotype structure in search of unidentified materials that may host nickelate superconductivity. By performing anion exchange of oxygen with fluorine, we create two heteroanionic La$_2$NiO$_3$F polymorphs and stabilize Ni$^{1+}$ in 4-coordinate and 5-coordinate square planar and square pyramidal geometries, respectively. We further predict chemical reactions with high thermodynamic driving forces to guide their synthesis. These oxyfluorides are weakly correlated antiferromagnetic insulators and their nonmagnetic phases exhibit quasi-2D Fermi surfaces dominated by Ni $d_{x^2-y^2}$ states, which strikingly resemble undoped cuprate superconductors. We discuss how the oxyfluoride anion chemistry promotes Ni-O covalency and single-band character that is more similar to the cuprates than homoanionic infinite-layer nickelates. We use our understanding to propose doping strategies and layered LaSrNiO$_2$F$_2$ and La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_4$F$_3$ nickelate oxyfluorides with tunable electronic and magnetic structures for experimentation.