Electric-field-induced Mott metal-insulator transition

The Mott metal-insulator transition induced by an external electric field is discussed based on an analysis of a double-layered two-dimensional lattice model. A sharp transition between a metallic phase with the antiferromagnetic order and a Mott insulating phase is found to be driven by the voltage difference between the two layers. A sharp metal-insulator transition is transformed to a smooth metal-insulator transition by a change in the coupling between sites This model is applicable to a Mott transition in a two-dimensional array of very small quantum dots whose shape is asymmetric in the direction perpendicular to the substrate. © 1996 The American Physical Society.