Orbital assisted switching of electronic phases in V₂O₃ thin films

The exploration of electronic correlations and orbital occupancy across the metal-insulator transition in a strongly correlated V2O3 system provides valuable insights into fundamental physics. It also enables the control and enhancement of material functionality, which holds immense importance for diverse technological applications [1, 2]. In the current study, we have explored the essential role of trigonal distortion together with the orbital distributions in iso-structural paramagnetic metal (PM) and paramagnetic insulating (PI) phases of V2O3 thin films. We stabilized the isostructural PI and PM states at room temperature (RT) in epitaxial V2O3 thin films using RHEED assisted Pulsed laser deposition technique by controlling the degree of trigonal distortion. X-ray linear dichroism (XLD) at the O K-edge is employed to uncover electronic reconfigurations in our studied films both in PM and PI states as shown in Figure 1.

Importantly, the PM state demonstrates electron occupation preference in orbitals perpendicular to the system, while the PI state reveals a switch in electron occupation preference within the plane of V2O3 thin film (as shown in the Schematic below), indicating an intriguing orbital switching from PM to PI state. Our results demonstrate the orbital switching across PM to PI transition together with an enhancement in electronic correlation strength (U/W) leading to an emergence of a band gap in PI state at RT. These findings deepen the understanding for tailoring the materials properties and promises for advancing material design together with improve the functionality of the system in electronic switching applications [3].