The electronic phase diagram of the weak spin-orbit Mott insulator (Sr(1-x)Lax)3Ir2O7 is determined via an exhaustive experimental study. Upon doping electrons via La substitution, an immediate collapse in resistivity occurs along with a narrow regime of nanoscale phase separation comprised of antiferromagnetic, insulating regions and paramagnetic, metallic puddles persisting until x~0.04. Continued electron doping results in an abrupt, first-order phase boundary where the Neel state is suppressed and a homogenous, correlated, metallic state appears with an enhanced spin susceptibility and local moments. As the metallic state is stabilized, a weak structural distortion develops and suggests a competing instability with the parent spin-orbit Mott state.
@article{arxiv.1506.00041,
title = {First-order melting of a weak spin-orbit Mott insulator into a correlated metal},
author = {Tom Hogan and Z. Yamani and D. Walkup and Xiang Chen and Rebecca Dally and Thomas Z. Ward and John Hill and Z. Islam and Vidya Madhavan and Stephen D. Wilson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1506.00041},
year = {2015}
}