Compressive strain-induced metal-insulator transition in orthorhombic SrIrO3 thin films

John H. Gruenewald, John Nichols, Jasminka Terzic, Gang Cao, Joseph W. Brill, Sung S.Ambrose Seo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

66 Scopus citations

Abstract

Orthorhombic SrIrO3 is a correlated metal whose electronic properties are highly susceptible to external perturbations due to the comparable interactions of spin-orbit interaction and electronic correlation. We have investigated the electronic properties of epitaxial orthorhombic SrIrO3 thin-films under compressive strain using transport measurements, optical absorption spectra, and magnetoresistance. The metastable, orthorhombic SrIrO3 thin-films are synthesized on various substrates using an epi-stabilization technique. We have observed that as in-plane lattice compression is increased, the dc-resistivity (ρ) of the thin films increases by a few orders of magnitude, and the dρ/dT changes from positive to negative values. However, optical absorption spectra show Drude-like, metallic responses without an optical gap opening for all compressively strained thin films. Transport measurements under magnetic fields show negative magnetoresistance at low temperature for compressively strained thin-films. Our results suggest that weak localization is responsible for the strain-induced metal-insulator transition for the orthorhombic SrIrO3 thin-films.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2491-2496
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Materials Research
Volume29
Issue number21
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 8 2014

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Materials Research Society 2014.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Science (all)
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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