Metal-Insulator Transition in Strongly Correlated Quantum Confined SrVO₃ Superlattices

Superlattices (such as SrVO₃/SrTiO₃) have many interesting physical phenomena influenced by orbital degeneracy, quantum confinement, interfaces and electron-electron correlations to name a few. The use of varying the number of SrVO₃ layers in superlattices gives a way to tune the strongly localized electron-electron correlations and the metal-insulator transition (MIT). These local correlations are beyond the predictive capabilities of standard density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Therefore, dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) needs to be used in conjunction with DFT (the DFT+DMFT method) to model these local correlations.

This talk will discuss our ongoing work on using the DFT+DMFT method to understand the fundamental electron correlation physics in previous experimental data of SrVO₃/SrTiO₃ superlattices. We investigate the effects on the correlated electron behavior of varying the thickness of SrVO₃ layers and propose a potential mechanism behind the MIT in these systems.