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Nature of the metal-insulator transition in few-unit-cell-thick LaNiO3 films

Golalikhani, M.
; 
Lei, Q.
; ; 
Kasaei, L.
; 
Park, H.
; 
Bai, J.
; 
Orgiani, P.
; 
Ciston, J.
; 
Sterbinsky, G. E.
; 
Arena, D. A.
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Journal article
Date
2018-05-07
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Physics
Subject
Electronic properties and materials
 Phase transitions and critical phenomena
 Surfaces, interfaces and thin films
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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/33
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04546-5
Abstract
The nature of the metal-insulator transition in thin films and superlattices of LaNiO3 only a few unit cells in thickness remains elusive despite tremendous effort. Quantum confinement and epitaxial strain have been evoked as the mechanisms, although other factors such as growth-induced disorder, cation non-stoichiometry, oxygen vacancies, and substrate–film interface quality may also affect the observable properties of ultrathin films. Here we report results obtained for near-ideal LaNiO3 films with different thicknesses and terminations grown by atomic layer-by-layer laser molecular beam epitaxy on LaAlO3 substrates. We find that the room-temperature metallic behavior persists until the film thickness is reduced to an unprecedentedly small 1.5 unit cells (NiO2 termination). Electronic structure measurements using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and first-principles calculation suggest that oxygen vacancies existing in the films also contribute to the metal-insulator transition.
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Golalikhani, M., Lei, Q., Chandrasena, R.U., Kasaei, L., Park, H., Bai, J., Orgiani, P., Ciston, J., Sterbinsky, G. E., Arena, D. A., Shafer, P., Arenholz, E., Davidson, B. A., Millis, A. J., Gray, A. X., Xi, X. X. (2018) Nature of the metal-insulator transition in few-unit-cell-thick LaNiO3 films. Nature Communications 9: 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04546-5.
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Nature Publishing Group
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Nature Communications, Vol. 9, Article 2206
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