Electrical-current control of structural and physical properties via strong spin-orbit interactions in canted antiferromagnetic Mott insulators

1. A composition of matter consisting primarily of a stabilizing element and a transition metal oxide, wherein the transition metal oxide is an anti-ferromagnetic Mott insulator with strong spin orbit interactions, and the composition of matter has a canted crystal structure.

2. The composition of matter of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal oxide is a 4d or 5d transition metal oxide.

3. The composition of matter of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal oxide is Iridium Oxide or Ruthenium Oxide.

4. The composition of matter of claim 1 , wherein the anti-ferromagnetic Mott insulator has spin orbit interactions between 0.15 eV and 0.5 eV.

5. The composition of matter of claim 1 , wherein the stabilizing element is selected from the group of Strontium, Barium, and Calcium.

6. The composition of matter of claim 1 , wherein the composition of matter is a single crystal grown using a self-flux method.

7. The composition of matter of claim 1 , wherein the composition of matter is selected from the group comprising: Sr 2 IrO 4 , Sr 2 Ir 0.97 Tb 0.03 O 4 , Sr 3 Ir 2 O 7 , BaIrO 3 , Ca 3 Ru 2 O 7 , and doped Ca 2 RuO 4 .

8. A method for electrical-current control of structural and physical properties of a material, the method comprising:

applying current along a first dimension of the material, wherein the material consists of a stabilizing element and a transition metal oxide, wherein the transition metal oxide is an anti-ferromagnetic Mott insulator with strong spin orbit interactions, and the composition of matter has a canted crystal structure; and

wherein applying current along a first dimension of the material results in a change in size and resistivity of the material along a second dimension.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the applied current is between 50 mA and 150 mA.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the material is maintained at a temperature between 50 K and 300 K.

11. The method of claim 8 , where in applying current along a first dimension of the material results in the material having a negative differential resistance.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the applied current is ramped from 0 mA to a desired current.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the applied current is abruptly applied to the material.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the transition metal oxide is a 4d or 5d transition metal oxide.

15. The method of claim 8 , wherein the transition metal oxide is Iridium Oxide or Ruthenium Oxide.

16. The method of claim 8 , wherein anti-ferromagnetic Mott insulator has spin orbit interactions between 0.15 eV and 0.5 eV.