Interface controlled electronic charge inhomogeneities in correlated heterostructures

TL;DR

This paper predicts that heterostructures of strongly correlated cuprate films and dielectric layers exhibit inhomogeneous electronic states at the interface, which can be tuned to control charge ordering.

Contribution

It introduces a model showing how interfacial coupling influences electronic inhomogeneities and charge order in correlated heterostructures.

Findings

Electronic ordering linked to inhomogeneous polaron effects.

Interfacial tuning can control charge ordering.

Predicted inhomogeneous interface states in cuprate heterostructures.

Abstract

For heterostructures of ultrathin, strongly correlated copper-oxide films and dielectric perovskite layers, we predict inhomogeneous electronic interface states. Our study is based on an extended Hubbard model for the cuprate film. The interface is implemented by a coupling to the electron and phonon degrees of freedom of the dielectric oxide layer. We find that electronic ordering in the film is associated with a strongly inhomogeneous polaron effect. We propose to consider the interfacial tuning as a powerful mechanism to control the charge ordering in correlated electronic systems.