Abstract
We demonstrate that the surface of the honeycomb lattice iridate is extremely tunable by plasma etching. We have succeeded in turning the surface of metallic by argon plasma etching which leads to the removal of Na from the surface. The surface structure does not change in this process as revealed by grazing incidence small-angle x-ray scattering. The sheet resistance can be reduced by several orders of magnitude by varying the etching duration. Temperature-dependent for the metallic samples shows signatures of spin- or charge-density-wave transitions with abrupt changes in . Thermal hysteresis between cooling and warming measurements across the transition indicates a first-order transition. For the most metallic sample data at low temperatures follow a behavior suggesting normal Fermi-liquid behavior.
- Received 25 February 2016
- Revised 27 June 2016
- Corrected 25 May 2017
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.041109
©2016 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Corrections
25 May 2017