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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2014

John H. Gruenewald Open the ORCID record for John H. Gruenewald [Opens in a new window] ,
John Nichols ,
Jasminka Terzic ,
Gang Cao ,
Joseph W. Brill  and
Sung S.Ambrose Seo
John H. Gruenewald
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA
John Nichols
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA
Jasminka Terzic
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA
Gang Cao
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA
Joseph W. Brill
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA
Sung S.Ambrose Seo*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: a.seo@uky.edu
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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.

Type
Invited Feature Paper
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 29 , Issue 21 , 14 November 2014 , pp. 2491 - 2496
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2014 

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