Tuning the metal-insulator transition via epitaxial strain and Co doping in NdNiO{sub 3} thin films grown by polymer-assisted deposition

Journal Article · Thu Jan 21 04:00:00 EST 2016 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4940393· OSTI ID:22499259

Yao, Dan; Shi, Lei; Zhou, Shiming; Liu, Haifeng; Zhao, Jiyin; Li, Yang ^[1]; Wang, Yang ^[2]

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1. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China)
2. Instrumental Analysis Center, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230009 (China)

The epitaxial NdNi{sub 1-x}Co{sub x}O{sub 3} (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) thin films on (001) LaAlO{sub 3} and (001) SrTiO{sub 3} substrates were grown by a simple polymer-assisted deposition technique. The co-function of the epitaxial strain and Co doping on the metal-insulator transition in perovskite nickelate NdNiO{sub 3} thin films is investigated. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy reveal that the as-prepared thin films exhibit good crystallinity and heteroepitaxy. The temperature dependent resistivities of the thin films indicate that both the epitaxial strain and Co doping lower the metal-insulator (MI) transition temperature, which can be treated as a way to tune the MI transition. Furthermore, under the investigated Co-doping levels, the MI transition temperature (T{sub MI}) shifts to low temperatures with Co content increasing under both compressive and tensile strain, and the more distinction is in the former situation. When x is increased up to 0.10, the insulating phase is completely suppressed under the compressive strain. With the strain increases from compression to tension, the resistivities are enhanced both in the metal and insulating regions. However, the Co-doping effect on the resistivity shows a more complex situation. As Co content x increases from zero to 0.10, the resistivities are reduced both in the metal and insulating regions under the tensile strain, whereas they are enhanced in the high-temperature metal region under the compressive strain. Based on the temperature dependent resistivity in the metal regions, it is suggested that the electron-phonon coupling in the films becomes weaker with the increase of both the strain and Co-doping.

• OSTI ID: 22499259
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 119; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALUMINATES
COMPLEXES
COMPRESSION
DEPOSITION
ELECTRON-PHONON COUPLING
EPITAXY
LANTHANUM COMPOUNDS
METALS
PEROVSKITE
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
POLYMERS
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
STRAINS
STRONTIUM TITANATES
SUBSTRATES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
X-RAY DIFFRACTION