Charge transfer in superlattices consisting of SrIrO3 and SrMnO3 is investigated using density functional theory. Despite the nearly identical work function and non-polar interfaces between SrIrO3 and SrMnO3, rather large charge transfer was experimentally reported at the interface between them. Here, we report a microscopic model that captures the mechanism behind this phenomenon, providing a qualitative understanding of the experimental observation. This leads to unique strain dependence of such charge transfer in iridate-manganite superlattices. The predicted behavior is consistently verified by experiment with soft x-ray and optical spectroscopy. Our work thus demonstrates a new route to control electronic states in non-polar oxide heterostructures.
@article{arxiv.1709.07500,
title = {Charge transfer in iridate-manganite superlattices},
author = {Satoshi Okamoto and John Nichols and Changhee Sohn and Soy Yeun Kim and Tae Won Noh and Ho Nyung Lee},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1709.07500},
year = {2017}
}