Spontaneous Supercrystal Formation During a Strain‐Engineered Metal–Insulator Transition

Abstract

Mott metal–insulator transitions possess electronic, magnetic, and structural degrees of freedom promising next‐generation energy‐efficient electronics. A previously unknown, hierarchically ordered, and anisotropic supercrystal state is reported and its intrinsic formation characterized in‐situ during a Mott transition in a Ca2RuO4 thin film. Machine learning‐assisted X‐ray nanodiffraction together with cryogenic electron microscopy reveal multi‐scale periodic domain formation at and below the film transition temperature (TFilm ≈ 200–250 K) and a separate anisotropic spatial structure at and above TFilm. Local resistivity measurements imply an intrinsic coupling of the supercrystal orientation to the material's anisotropic conductivity. These findings add a new degree of complexity to the physical understanding of Mott transitions, opening opportunities for designing materials with tunable electronic properties.