Abstract
Using first-principles calculations, we determined the epitaxial-strain dependence of the ground state of the superlattice. The superlattice layering leads to significant changes in the electronic states near the Fermi level, derived from Cr orbitals. An insulating phase is found when the tensile strain is greater than 2.2% relative to unstrained cubic . The insulating character is shown to arise from Cr orbital ordering, which is produced by an in-plane polar distortion that couples to the superlattice bands and is stabilized by epitaxial strain. This effect can be used to engineer the band structure near the Fermi level in transition metal oxide superlattices.
- Received 8 March 2015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.106401
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