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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen

TT 27: Correlated Electrons: Other Materials

TT 27.2: Talk

Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 09:45–10:00, H 3010

Manipulating the metal-insulator transition in ultrathin oxide films by strain engineering — •Sizhao Huang, Martin Kamp, Fabian Hartmann, Philipp Scheiderer, Judith Gabel, Michael Sing, and Ralph Claessen — Physikalisches Institut and Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, Universität Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany

Correlation-induced metal-insulator transitions (MIT) in transition-metal oxides (TMO) have been intensively studied in the past, especially on bulk samples [1]. In TMO films, numerous phenomena can be induced by strain or by reducing the film thickness towards the 2D limit, as, e.g., in SrVO₃ (SVO) [2]. In our previous studies on SrTiO₃ (STO) capped SVO films, a transition from the Mott insulating state at 6 u.c. to metallic behaviour at 10 u.c. film thickness has been found. In order to further control the MIT transition, we have grown coherently strained SVO thin films on various substrates with different lattice constants by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, reciprocal space mapping and transport measurements, we demonstrate that the MIT in SVO thin films can be fine-tuned by both film thickness and strain, which clears the way for Mottronics applications.

Keywords: Pulsed laser deposition; SrVO3; Strain engineering; Correlated materials