  Orthorhombic SrIrO3 subjected to strain show tunable transport properties.
With underlying symmetry remaining invariant, these properties are associated
with IrO6 octahedral tilting. Adopting to first-principles methods, the effects
of crystal field, spin-orbit coupling, and Coulomb correlations, on comparable
interaction length scales, are discussed. While tilting induces a t2g-eg
crystal-field splitting and band narrowing, spin-orbit coupling induces a
partial splitting of the Jeff bands rendering SrIrO3 a semi-metallic ground
state. The SOC enhanced hybridization of Ir-O orbitals, serve as a explanation
to why the critical Hubbard correlation strength increases with increasing SOC
strength in SrIrO3 to induce an insulating phase.
