Coupled straintronic–optoelectronic effect in Mott oxide films

Abstract

Controlling the electronic properties of complex oxides by an external stimulus is of significant importance for exploring exotic quantum states and developing modern electronic devices with low-level energy consumption. Here, we demonstrate the electro-photo double control of electronic transport for Mott insulating LaVO₃ thin films deposited onto ferroelectric 0.7Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-0.3PbTiO₃ substrates. An electrically driven linear electroresistance effect is acquired at room temperature through the converse piezoelectric response, which can be optically regulated by 79%. Furthermore, the visible light-activated photoresistance response can be efficiently tuned by piezo strain. These results demonstrate that the strain-excited effect and photo-generated effect strongly correlated with each other, mediated by lattice-charge–orbital coupling. Our work points to an effective strategy for realizing the coupled straintronic–optoelectronic effect in hybrid correlated oxide/ferroelectric systems and delivering multi-field tunable low-dissipation versatile electronic and photonic devices.