Particle-hole asymmetric lifetimes promoted by nonlocal spin and orbital fluctuations in SrVO3 monolayers

The two-dimensional nature of engineered transition-metal ultrathin oxide films offers a large playground of yet to be fully understood physics. Here, we study pristine SrVO3 monolayers that have recently been predicted to display a variety of magnetic and orbital orders. We find that nonlocal magnetic (orbital) fluctuations lead to a strong (weak to moderate) momentum differentiation in the self-energy, particularly in the scattering rate. In the one-band 2D Hubbard model, momentum selectivity on the Fermi surface (k = kF) is known to lead to pseudogap physics. Here instead, in the multiorbital case, we evidence a differentiation between momenta on the occupied (k < kF) and the unoccupied side (k > kF) of the Fermi surface. Based on the dynamical vertex approximation, and introducing a binaural fluctuation diagnostics tool, we advance the understanding of spectral signatures of nonlocal fluctuations. Our work calls to (re)examine ultrathin oxide films and interfaces with methods beyond dynamical mean-field theory and may point to correlation-enhanced thermoelectric effects.

Automated summary

The two-dimensional nature of engineered transition-metal ultrathin oxide films provides a large playground for studying yet to be fully understood physics. This study focuses on pristine SrVO3 monolayers and reveals the effects of nonlocal magnetic and orbital fluctuations on the self-energy, as well as the differentiation between momenta on the occupied and unoccupied sides of the Fermi surface.