We demonstrate that the surface of the honeycomb lattice iridate Na2IrO3 is extremely tunable by plasma etching. We have succeeded in turning the surface of Na2IrO3 metallic by Ar plasma etching which leads to the removal of Na from the surface. The surface structure does not change in this process as revealed by grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS). The sheet resistance Rs can be reduced by several orders of magnitude by varying the etching duration. Temperature dependent Rs(T) for the metallic samples show signatures of spin or charge density wave transitions with abrupt changes in Rs. Thermal hysteresis between cooling and warming measurements across the transition indicates a first order transition. For the most metallic sample Rs(T) data at low temperatures follow a T2 behaviour suggesting normal Fermi liquid behaviour.
@article{arxiv.1606.08959,
title = {First order density wave like transitions in surface doped Na$_2$IrO$_3$},
author = {Kavita Mehlawat and Yogesh Singh},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1606.08959},
year = {2017}
}