article published yes Zhixiang Sun author Jose M. Guevara author Steffen Sykora author Ekaterina Paerschke author 8275014E-6063-11E9-9B7F-6338E66974250000-0003-0853-8182 Kaustuv Manna author Andrey Maljuk author Sabine Wurmehl author Jeroen van den Brink author Bernd Büchner author Christian Hess author Despite many efforts to rationalize the strongly correlated electronic ground states in doped Mott insulators, the nature of the doping-induced insulator-to-metal transition is still a subject under intensive investigation. Here, we probe the nanoscale electronic structure of the Mott insulator Sr₂IrO₄δ with low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and find an enhanced local density of states (LDOS) inside the Mott gap at the location of individual defects which we interpret as defects at apical oxygen sites. A chiral behavior in the topography for those defects has been observed. We also visualize the local enhanced conductance arising from the overlapping of defect states which induces finite LDOS inside of the Mott gap. By combining these findings with the typical spatial extension of isolated defects of about 2 nm, our results indicate that the insulator-to-metal transition in Sr₂IrO₄−δ could be percolative in nature. https://research-explorer.ista.ac.at/download/12071/12075/2021_PhysicalRevResearch_Sun.pdf application/pdfno American Physical Society2021 eng 2643-156410.1103/physrevresearch.3.023075 32 yes Z. Sun, J.M. Guevara, S. Sykora, E. Paerschke, K. Manna, A. Maljuk, S. Wurmehl, J. van den Brink, B. Büchner, C. Hess, Physical Review Research 3 (2021). Sun, Zhixiang, et al. “Evidence for a Percolative Mott Insulator-Metal Transition in Doped Sr₂IrO₄.” <i>Physical Review Research</i>, vol. 3, no. 2, 023075, American Physical Society, 2021, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.3.023075">10.1103/physrevresearch.3.023075</a>. Z. Sun <i>et al.</i>, “Evidence for a percolative Mott insulator-metal transition in doped Sr₂IrO₄,” <i>Physical Review Research</i>, vol. 3, no. 2. American Physical Society, 2021. Sun, Z., Guevara, J. M., Sykora, S., Paerschke, E., Manna, K., Maljuk, A., … Hess, C. (2021). Evidence for a percolative Mott insulator-metal transition in doped Sr₂IrO₄. <i>Physical Review Research</i>. American Physical Society. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.3.023075">https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.3.023075</a> Sun Z, Guevara JM, Sykora S, Paerschke E, Manna K, Maljuk A, Wurmehl S, van den Brink J, Büchner B, Hess C. 2021. Evidence for a percolative Mott insulator-metal transition in doped Sr₂IrO₄. Physical Review Research. 3(2), 023075. Sun Z, Guevara JM, Sykora S, et al. Evidence for a percolative Mott insulator-metal transition in doped Sr₂IrO₄. <i>Physical Review Research</i>. 2021;3(2). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.3.023075">10.1103/physrevresearch.3.023075</a> Sun, Zhixiang, Jose M. Guevara, Steffen Sykora, Ekaterina Paerschke, Kaustuv Manna, Andrey Maljuk, Sabine Wurmehl, Jeroen van den Brink, Bernd Büchner, and Christian Hess. “Evidence for a Percolative Mott Insulator-Metal Transition in Doped Sr₂IrO₄.” <i>Physical Review Research</i>. American Physical Society, 2021. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.3.023075">https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.3.023075</a>. 120712022-09-08T15:01:16Z2022-09-09T07:26:01Z