Thickness-dependent metal-insulator transition in epitaxial SrRuO3 ultrathin films

Shen, Xuan; Qiu, Xiangbiao; Su, Dong; Zhou, Shengqiang; Li, Aidong; Wu, Di

doi:10.1063/1.4905485

Title: Thickness-dependent metal-insulator transition in epitaxial SrRuO₃ ultrathin films

Journal Article · Tue Jan 06 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4905485· OSTI ID:1182535

Shen, Xuan ^[1]; Qiu, Xiangbiao ^[1]; Su, Dong ^[2]; Zhou, Shengqiang ^[3]; Li, Aidong ^[1]; Wu, Di ^[1]

Nanjing Univ., Nanjing (China)
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, Dresden (Germany)

Transport characteristics of ultrathin SrRuO₃ films, deposited epitaxially on TiO₂-terminated SrTiO₃ (001) single-crystal substrates, were studied as a function of film thickness. Evolution from a metallic to an insulating behavior is observed as the film thickness decreases from 20 to 4 unit cells. In films thicker than 4 unit cells, the transport behavior obeys the Drude low temperature conductivity with quantum corrections, which can be attributed to weak localization. Fitting the data with 2-dimensional localization model indicates that electron-phonon collisions are the main inelastic relaxation mechanism. In the film of 4 unit cells in thickness, the transport behavior follows variable range hopping model, indicating a strongly localized state. As a result, magnetoresistance measurements reveal a likely magnetic anisotropy with the magnetic easy axis along the out-of-plane direction.

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Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC00112704

OSTI ID:: 1182535

Report Number(s):: BNL-107631-2015-JA; JAPIAU; R&D Project: 16060; KC0403020; TRN: US1500508

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 1; ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 53 works

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