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Tunable metal-insulator transition in Nd{sub 1−x}Y{sub x}NiO{sub 3} (x = 0.3, 0.4) perovskites thin film at near room temperature

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4926917· OSTI ID:22483176
; ; ; ; ;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230029 (China)
  2. Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 201204 (China)
  3. Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)

Metal-insulator transition (MIT) occurs due to the charge disproportionation and lattice distortions in rare-earth nickelates. Existing studies revealed that the MIT behavior of rare-earth nickelates is fairly sensitive to external stress/pressure, suggesting a viable route for MIT strain engineering. Unlike applying extrinsic strain, the MIT can also be modulated by through rare-earth cation mixing, which can be viewed as intrinsic quantum stress. We choose Nd{sub 1−X}Y{sub X}NiO{sub 3} (x = 0.3, 0.4) perovskites thin films as a prototype system to exhibit the tunable sharp MIT at near room temperature. By adjusting Y concentration, the transition temperature of the thin films can be changed within the range of 340–360 K. X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), and in situ infrared spectroscopy are employed to probe the structural and optical property variation affected by composition and temperature. The infrared transmission intensity decreases with temperature across the MIT, indicating a pronounced thermochromic effect. Meanwhile, the XAFS result exhibits that the crystal atomistic structure changes accompanying with the Y atoms incorporation and MIT phase transition. The heavily doped Y atoms result in the pre-edge peak descent and Ni-O bond elongation, suggesting an enhanced charge disproportionation effect and the weakening of hybridization between Ni-3d and O-2p orbits.

OSTI ID:
22483176
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 107; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English