Gaps and pseudo-gaps at the Mott quantum Critical point in the perovskite rare earth nickelates

We report on tunneling measurements that reveal for the first time the evolution of the quasi-particle state density across the bandwidth controlled Mott metal to insulator transition in the rare earth perovskite nickelates. In this, a canonical class of transition metal oxides, we study in particular two materials close to the T=0 metal-insulator transition: NdNiO3 , an antiferromagnetic insulator, and LaNiO3, a correlated metal. We measure a sharp gap in NdNiO3, which has an insulating ground state, of ~ 30 meV. Remarkably, metallic LaNiO3 exhibits a pseudogap of the same order that presages the metal insulator transition. The smallness of both the gap and pseudogap suggests they arise from a common origin: proximity to a quantum critical point at or near the T=0 metal-insulator transition. It also supports theoretical models of the quantum phase transition in terms of spin and charge instabilities of an itinerant Fermi surface.

Shubnikov-de Haas effect in low electron density SrTiO3: Conduction band edge of SrTiO3 redux

The Shubnikov-de Haas effect is used to explore the conduction band edge of high mobility SrTiO3 films doped with La. The results largely confirm the earlier measurements by Uwe et al. [Jap. J. Appl. Phys. 24, Suppl. 24-2, 335 (1985)]. The band edge dispersion differs significantly from the predictions of ab initio electronic structure theory.