Charge transfer in superlattices consisting of SrIrO3 and SrMnO3 is investigated using density functional theory. Despite the nearly identical work function and nonpolar interfaces between SrIrO3 and SrMnO3, rather large charge transfer was experimentally reported at the interface between them. Here, we report a microscopic model that captures the mechanism behind this phenomenon, providing a qualitative understanding of the experimental observation. This leads to unique strain dependence of such charge transfer in iridate-manganite superlattices. The predicted behavior is consistently verified by experiment with soft X-ray and optical spectroscopy. Our work thus demonstrates a new route to control electronic states in nonpolar oxide heterostructures.
Keywords: Oxide heterostructures; X-ray and optical measurements; density functional theory; electronic reconstruction; modeling.