Hydrogen induced electronic transition within correlated perovskite nickelates with heavy rare-earth composition
Yi Bian, Haiyan Li, Fengbo Yan, Haifan Li, Jiaou Wang, Hao Zhang, Yong Jiang, Nuofu Chen, Jikun Chen
Abstract
Although the hydrogen induced electronic transition within the perovskite family of rare-earth nickelate (ReNiO3) beyond conventional semiconductors was recently discovered, the existing research stays at ReNiO3 with light rare-earth compositions. To further extend the cognition toward heavier rare-earth, herein we demonstrate hydrogen induced electronic transitions for quasi-single crystalline ReNiO3/LaAlO3 (001) heterostructures, covering a large variety of the rare-earth composition from Nd to Er. The hydrogen induced elevations in the resistivity of ReNiO3 (RH/R0) show an unexpected non-monotonic tendency with the atomic number of the rare-earth composition, e.g., first increases from Nd to Dy and afterwards decreases from Dy to Er. Although ReNiO3 with heavy rare-earth composition (e.g., DyNiO3) exhibits large RH/R0 up to 107, their hydrogen induced electronic transition is not reversible. Further probing the electronic structures via near edge x-ray absorption fine structure analysis clearly demonstrates the respective transition in electronic structures of ReNiO3 from Ni3+ based electron itinerant orbital configurations toward the Ni2+ based electron localized state. Balancing the hydrogen induced transition reversibility with abruption in the variations of material resistivity, we emphasize that ReNiO3 with middle rare-earth compositions (e.g., Sm) are most suitable in catering to the potential applications in correlated electronic devices.