Observation of metallic electronic structure in a single-atomic-layer oxide

Correlated electrons in transition metal oxides exhibit a variety of emergent phases. When transition metal oxides are confined to a single-atomic-layer thickness, experiments so far have shown that they usually lose diverse properties and become insulators. In an attempt to extend the range of electronic phases of the single-atomic-layer oxide, we search for a metallic phase in a monolayer-thick epitaxial SrRuO3 film. Combining atomic-scale epitaxy and angle-resolved photoemission measurements, we show that the monolayer SrRuO3 is a strongly correlated metal. Systematic investigation reveals that the interplay between dimensionality and electronic correlation makes the monolayer SrRuO3 an incoherent metal with orbital-selective correlation. Furthermore, the unique electronic phase of the monolayer SrRuO3 is found to be highly tunable, as charge modulation demonstrates an incoherent-to-coherent crossover of the two-dimensional metal. Our work emphasizes the potentially rich phases of single-atomic-layer oxides and provides a guide to the manipulation of their two-dimensional correlated electron systems. Transition metal oxides exhibit a variety of correlated phases in their bulk form; however, they typically become insulators in the monolayer limit. Here, the authors report a correlated metallic state in a single-atomic layer of epitaxial SrRuO3, realized in epitaxial oxide heterostructure.

Automated summary

While transition metal oxides typically become insulators in the single-atomic-layer limit, a correlated metallic state has been found in a single-atomic layer of epitaxial SrRuO3, demonstrating tunability in the electronic phase of single-atomic-layer oxides and the potential for rich phases in two-dimensional correlated electron systems.