Metal insulator transition in SrIrO3 Ultra-Thin Films examined by ionic liquid gating*

Perovskite SrIrO₃ (SIO) is a narrow-band semimetal, which combines strong spin-orbit coupling and electron correlations. This system has attracted much attention because it is at the verge of a Mott transition. Epitaxial SIO ultra-thin-layers show a thickness dependent metal-insulator transition (MIT) which is controlled by strain. The insulating state exhibits a strong temperature dependence of the resistance, hysteretic-magnetoresistance and anomalous Hall effect at low temperature, indicating ferromagnetic order. We have explored MIT in SIO ultrathin-layers by using Electric Double Layer (EDL) techniques, that employ ionic liquid as gate dielectric. We have simultaneously measured longitudinal (magneto) resistance and Hall effect across this transition to address whether the MIT is band-width or carrier-density-controlled.