Enhanced metallic properties of SrRuO3 thin films via kinetically controlled pulsed laser epitaxy

J. Thompson; J. Nichols; S. Lee; S. Ryee; J. H. Gruenewald; J. G. Connell; M. Souri; J. M. Johnson; J. Hwang; M. J. Han; H. N. Lee; D. W. Kim; S. S.A. Seo

doi:10.1063/1.4964882

Enhanced metallic properties of SrRuO₃ thin films via kinetically controlled pulsed laser epitaxy

J. Thompson, J. Nichols, S. Lee, S. Ryee, J. H. Gruenewald, J. G. Connell, M. Souri, J. M. Johnson, J. Hwang, M. J. Han, H. N. Lee, D. W. Kim, S. S.A. Seo

Department of Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Metal electrodes are a universal element of all electronic devices. Conducting SrRuO₃ (SRO) epitaxial thin films have been extensively used as electrodes in complex-oxide heterostructures due to good lattice mismatches with perovskite substrates. However, when compared to SRO single crystals, SRO thin films have shown reduced conductivity and Curie temperatures (T_C), which can lead to higher Joule heating and energy loss in the devices. Here, we report that high-quality SRO thin films can be synthesized by controlling the plume dynamics and growth rate of pulsed laser epitaxy (PLE) with real-time optical spectroscopic monitoring. The SRO thin films grown under the kinetically controlled conditions, down to ca. 16 nm in thickness, exhibit both enhanced conductivity and T_C as compared to bulk values, due to their improved stoichiometry and a strain-mediated increase of the bandwidth of Ru 4d electrons. This result provides a direction for enhancing the physical properties of PLE-grown thin films and paves a way to improved device applications.

Original language	English
Article number	161902
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	109
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4964882
State	Published - 17 Oct 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Author(s).

Access to Document

10.1063/1.4964882

Cite this

@article{5518ef1ed7014e37bd9d62c50bc7d454,

title = "Enhanced metallic properties of SrRuO3 thin films via kinetically controlled pulsed laser epitaxy",

abstract = "Metal electrodes are a universal element of all electronic devices. Conducting SrRuO3 (SRO) epitaxial thin films have been extensively used as electrodes in complex-oxide heterostructures due to good lattice mismatches with perovskite substrates. However, when compared to SRO single crystals, SRO thin films have shown reduced conductivity and Curie temperatures (TC), which can lead to higher Joule heating and energy loss in the devices. Here, we report that high-quality SRO thin films can be synthesized by controlling the plume dynamics and growth rate of pulsed laser epitaxy (PLE) with real-time optical spectroscopic monitoring. The SRO thin films grown under the kinetically controlled conditions, down to ca. 16 nm in thickness, exhibit both enhanced conductivity and TC as compared to bulk values, due to their improved stoichiometry and a strain-mediated increase of the bandwidth of Ru 4d electrons. This result provides a direction for enhancing the physical properties of PLE-grown thin films and paves a way to improved device applications.",

author = "J. Thompson and J. Nichols and S. Lee and S. Ryee and Gruenewald, {J. H.} and Connell, {J. G.} and M. Souri and Johnson, {J. M.} and J. Hwang and Han, {M. J.} and Lee, {H. N.} and Kim, {D. W.} and Seo, {S. S.A.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 Author(s).",

year = "2016",

month = oct,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1063/1.4964882",

language = "English",

volume = "109",

journal = "Applied Physics Letters",

issn = "0003-6951",

publisher = "American Institute of Physics",

number = "16",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Enhanced metallic properties of SrRuO3 thin films via kinetically controlled pulsed laser epitaxy

AU - Thompson, J.

AU - Nichols, J.

AU - Lee, S.

AU - Ryee, S.

AU - Gruenewald, J. H.

AU - Connell, J. G.

AU - Souri, M.

AU - Johnson, J. M.

AU - Hwang, J.

AU - Han, M. J.

AU - Lee, H. N.

AU - Kim, D. W.

AU - Seo, S. S.A.

PY - 2016/10/17

Y1 - 2016/10/17

N2 - Metal electrodes are a universal element of all electronic devices. Conducting SrRuO3 (SRO) epitaxial thin films have been extensively used as electrodes in complex-oxide heterostructures due to good lattice mismatches with perovskite substrates. However, when compared to SRO single crystals, SRO thin films have shown reduced conductivity and Curie temperatures (TC), which can lead to higher Joule heating and energy loss in the devices. Here, we report that high-quality SRO thin films can be synthesized by controlling the plume dynamics and growth rate of pulsed laser epitaxy (PLE) with real-time optical spectroscopic monitoring. The SRO thin films grown under the kinetically controlled conditions, down to ca. 16 nm in thickness, exhibit both enhanced conductivity and TC as compared to bulk values, due to their improved stoichiometry and a strain-mediated increase of the bandwidth of Ru 4d electrons. This result provides a direction for enhancing the physical properties of PLE-grown thin films and paves a way to improved device applications.

AB - Metal electrodes are a universal element of all electronic devices. Conducting SrRuO3 (SRO) epitaxial thin films have been extensively used as electrodes in complex-oxide heterostructures due to good lattice mismatches with perovskite substrates. However, when compared to SRO single crystals, SRO thin films have shown reduced conductivity and Curie temperatures (TC), which can lead to higher Joule heating and energy loss in the devices. Here, we report that high-quality SRO thin films can be synthesized by controlling the plume dynamics and growth rate of pulsed laser epitaxy (PLE) with real-time optical spectroscopic monitoring. The SRO thin films grown under the kinetically controlled conditions, down to ca. 16 nm in thickness, exhibit both enhanced conductivity and TC as compared to bulk values, due to their improved stoichiometry and a strain-mediated increase of the bandwidth of Ru 4d electrons. This result provides a direction for enhancing the physical properties of PLE-grown thin films and paves a way to improved device applications.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84992163206&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1063/1.4964882

DO - 10.1063/1.4964882

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84992163206

SN - 0003-6951

VL - 109

JO - Applied Physics Letters

JF - Applied Physics Letters

IS - 16

M1 - 161902

ER -