Competition between magnetic order and charge localization in Na2IrO3 thin crystal devices

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.101.235415
• Publication Date: 2020-06-09T13:45:02Z
• Authors: Josue Rodriguez; Gilbert Lopez; Francisco Ramirez; Nicholas P. Breznay; Robert Kealhofer; Vikram Nagarajan; Drew Latzke; Samantha Wilson; Naomy Marrufo; Peter Santiago; Jared Lara; Amirari Diego; Everardo Molina; David Rosser; Hadi Tavassol; Alessandra Lanzara; James G. Analytis; Claudia Ojeda-Ari...
• Keywords: Quantum Physics; Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics; Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el); MSD-Quantum Materials; FOS: Physical sciences; Condensed Matter Physics; 530; 01 natural sciences; Physical sciences; Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons; Engineering; MSD-General; Chemical sciences; Physical Sciences; cond-mat.mes-hall; Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall); 0103 physical sciences; Electronics; Sensors and Digital Hardware; cond-mat.str-el

Spin orbit assisted Mott insulators such as sodium iridate (Na$_2$IrO$_3$) have been an important subject of study in the recent years. In these materials, the interplay of electronic correlations, spin-orbit coupling, crystal field effects and a honeycomb arrangement of ions bring exciting ground states, predicted in the frame of the Kitaev model. The insulating character of Na$_2$IrO$_3$ has hampered its integration to an electronic device, desirable for applications, such as the manipulation of quasiparticles interesting for topological quantum computing. Here we show through electronic transport measurements supported by Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments, that electronic transport in Na$_2$IrO$_3$ is ruled by variable range hopping and it is strongly dependent on the magnetic ordering transition known for bulk Na$_2$IrO$_3$, as well as on external electric fields. Electronic transport measurements allow us to deduce a value for the localization length and the density of states in our Na$_2$IrO$_3$ thin crystals devices, offering an alternative approach to study insulating layered materials.