- Wen, Fangdi;
- Liu, Xiaoran;
- Zhang, Qinghua;
- Kareev, M;
- Pal, B;
- Cao, Yanwei;
- Freeland, JW;
- N’Diaye, AT;
- Shafer, P;
- Arenholz, E;
- Gu, Lin;
- Chakhalian, J
The relativistic Mott insulator Sr2IrO4 driven by large spin-orbit interaction is known for the antiferromagnetic state which closely resembles the electronic structure of parent compounds of superconducting cuprates. Here, we report the realization of hole-doped Sr2IrO4 by means of interfacial charge transfer in Sr2IrO4/LaNiO3 heterostructures. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on Ir 4f edge along with the x-ray absorption spectroscopy at Ni L 2 edge confirmed that 5d electrons from Ir sites are transferred onto Ni sites, leading to markedly electronic reconstruction at the interface. Although the Sr2IrO4/LaNiO3 heterostructure remains non-metallic, we reveal that the transport behavior is no longer described by the Mott variable range hopping mode, but by the Efros-Shklovskii model. These findings highlight a powerful utility of interfaces to realize emerging electronic states of the Ruddlesden-Popper phases of Ir-based oxides.