Origin of Unexpected Ir3+ in a Superconducting Candidate Sr2IrO4 System Analyzed by Photoelectron Holography

• Published in: Inorganic chemistry 2023-07, Vol.62 (28), p.10897-10904
• Main Authors: Horie, Rie, Matsushita, Tomohiro, Kawamura, Sota, Hase, Tsubasa, Horigane, Kazumasa, Momono, Hiroki, Takeuchi, Soichiro, Tanaka, Masaki, Tomita, Hiroto, Hashimoto, Yusuke, Kobayashi, Kaya, Haruyama, Yuichi, Daimon, Hiroshi, Morikawa, Yoshitada, Taguchi, Munetaka, Akimitsu, Jun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0020-1669; 1520-510X
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c03788

The reason for the absence of superconductivity in Sr2IrO4 was estimated by photoelectron spectra and photoelectron holograms. The analysis of the La photoelectron hologram concluded that La atoms are substituted to Sr sites. Two O 1s peaks were observed and were identified as the oxygens in the IrO2 and SrO planes by photoelectron holography and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In the Ir 4f spectrum of Sr2IrO4, an unexpected Ir3+ peak was observed as much as 50% of all of the Ir. The photoelectron hologram of Ir3+ showed a displacement of about 0.15 Å. This displacement is thought to be due to the oxygen vacancies in the IrO2 plane. These oxygen vacancies and the associated local displacement of the atoms might inhibit superconductivity in spite of sufficient electron doping.