Dimensionality-tuned electronic structure of nickelate superlattices explored by soft-x-ray angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

G. Berner, M. Sing, F. Pfaff, E. Benckiser, M. Wu, G. Christiani, G. Logvenov, H.-U. Habermeier, M. Kobayashi, V. N. Strocov, T. Schmitt, H. Fujiwara, S. Suga, A. Sekiyama, B. Keimer, and R. Claessen
Phys. Rev. B 92, 125130 – Published 16 September 2015

Abstract

The electronic and magnetic properties of epitaxial LaNiO3/LaAlO3 superlattices can be tuned by layer thickness and substrate-induced strain. Here, we report on direct measurements of the k-space-resolved electronic structure of buried nickelate layers in superlattices under compressive strain by soft-x-ray photoemission. After disentangling strong extrinsic contributions to the angle-dependent signal caused by photoelectron diffraction, we are able to extract Fermi surface information from our data. We find that with decreasing LaNiO3 thickness down to two unit cells (2 uc) quasiparticle coherence becomes strongly reduced, in accord with the dimension-induced metal-to-insulator transition seen in transport measurements. Nonetheless, on top of a strongly incoherent background a residual Fermi surface can be identified in the 2 uc superlattice whose nesting properties are consistent with the spin-density-wave (SDW) instability recently reported. The overall behavior of the Ni 3d spectra and the absence of a complete gap opening indicate that the SDW phase is dominated by strong order parameter fluctuations.

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  • Received 21 November 2014
  • Revised 6 February 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.125130

©2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

G. Berner1, M. Sing1, F. Pfaff1, E. Benckiser2, M. Wu2, G. Christiani2, G. Logvenov2, H.-U. Habermeier2, M. Kobayashi3, V. N. Strocov3, T. Schmitt3, H. Fujiwara4, S. Suga5, A. Sekiyama5, B. Keimer2, and R. Claessen1

  • 1Physikalisches Institut and Röntgen Center for Complex Material Systems (RCCM), Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany
  • 2Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
  • 3Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
  • 4Division of Materials Physics, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka 560-8531, Japan
  • 5Institute of Scientific & Industrial Research, Osaka University, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan

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Issue

Vol. 92, Iss. 12 — 15 September 2015

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