Publication Type:
Journal ArticleSource:
Nanoscale, Royal Society of Chemistry, Volume 7, Number 8, p.3453-3459 (2015)Keywords:
Anisotropic deformation, Electronic structure, External perturbations, Insulating state, Nanotechnology, Orders of magnitude, Piezoresistance, room temperature, Room-temperature resistivity, Spin-orbit couplingsAbstract:
Layered iridates have been the subject of intense scrutiny on account of their unusually strong spin-orbit coupling, which opens up a narrow bandgap in a material that would otherwise be a metal. This insulating state is very sensitive to external perturbations. Here, we show that vertical compression at the nanoscale, delivered using the tip of a standard scanning probe microscope, is capable of inducing a five orders of magnitude change in the room temperature resistivity of Sr2IrO4. The extreme sensitivity of the electronic structure to anisotropic deformations opens up a new angle of interest on this material, with the giant and fully reversible perpendicular piezoresistance rendering iridates as promising materials for room temperature piezotronic devices. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.
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