Spontaneous Supercrystal Formation During a Strain-Engineered Metal-Insulator Transition.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38881289.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1002/adma.202403873.
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Abstract
Mott metal-insulator transitions possess electronic, magnetic, and structural degrees of freedom promising next-generation energy-efficient electronics. A previously unknown, hierarchically ordered, and anisotropic supercrystal state is reported and its intrinsic formation characterized in-situ during a Mott transition in a Ca<sub>2</sub>RuO<sub>4</sub> thin film. Machine learning-assisted X-ray nanodiffraction together with cryogenic electron microscopy reveal multi-scale periodic domain formation at and below the film transition temperature (T<sub>Film</sub> ≈ 200-250 K) and a separate anisotropic spatial structure at and above T<sub>Film</sub>. Local resistivity measurements imply an intrinsic coupling of the supercrystal orientation to the material's anisotropic conductivity. These findings add a new degree of complexity to the physical understanding of Mott transitions, opening opportunities for designing materials with tunable electronic properties.