Reversible manipulation of the magnetic state in SrRuO ₃ through electric-field controlled proton evolution

Abstract

Ionic substitution forms an essential pathway to manipulate the structural phase, carrier density and crystalline symmetry of materials via ion-electron-lattice coupling, leading to a rich spectrum of electronic states in strongly correlated systems. Using the ferromagnetic metal SrRuO ₃ as a model system, we demonstrate an efficient and reversible control of both structural and electronic phase transformations through the electric-field controlled proton evolution with ionic liquid gating. The insertion of protons results in a large structural expansion and increased carrier density, leading to an exotic ferromagnetic to paramagnetic phase transition. Importantly, we reveal a novel protonated compound of HSrRuO ₃ with paramagnetic metallic as ground state. We observe a topological Hall effect at the boundary of the phase transition due to the proton concentration gradient across the film-depth. We envision that electric-field controlled protonation opens up a pathway to explore novel electronic states and material functionalities in protonated material systems.

Abstract

Ionic substitution is a useful way to manipulate structural, electronic, magnetic phase transitions in strongly correlated materials. Here, the authors report electric-field controlled protonation in SrRuO ₃, resulting in a large structural expansion and a ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic phase transition.