Spin-orbit coupling induced Mott transition in Ca$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$RuO$_{4}$ (0<x<0.2)

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new mechanism where spin-orbit coupling, enhanced by Coulomb interactions, drives the Mott transition in Ca$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$RuO$_{4}$, explaining the transition from insulating to metallic phases.

Contribution

It demonstrates how spin-orbit coupling combined with Coulomb repulsion induces a Mott transition in layered perovskite ruthenates, a novel insight into their electronic phase behavior.

Findings

Spin-orbit coupling is strongly enhanced by Coulomb repulsion in Ca$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$.

Substituting Sr for Ca reduces spin-orbit splitting, increasing bandwidth.

Theoretical results agree with experimental phase diagram.

Abstract

We propose a new mechanism for the paramagnetic metal-insulator transition in the layered perovskite Ca$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$RuO$_{4}$ (0<x<0.2). The LDA+U approach including spin-orbit coupling is used to calculate the electronic structures. In Ca$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$, we show that the spin-orbit effect is strongly enhanced by the Coulomb repulsion, which leads to an insulating phase. When Ca is substituted by Sr, the effective spin-orbit splitting is reduced due to the increasing bandwidth of the degenerate $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals. For x=0.2, the compound is found to be metallic. We show that these results are in good agreement with the experimental phase diagram.