Defect landscape and electrical properties in solution-derived LaNiO3 and NdNiO3 epitaxial thin films

In this work we evaluate the defects and the associated distortions present in tensile and compressive-strained chemical solution deposition (CSD) derived NdNiO3 (NNO) and LaNiO3 (LNO) thin-films by means of aberration corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM). We elucidate a fundam...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Mundet, Bernat, Jareño Cerulla, Julia, Gázquez, Jaume, Varela, María, Obradors, Xavier, Puig Molina, Teresa
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/173961
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/173961
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Metal-insulator transitions
Strain
Oxides
Thin films
Scanning transmission electron microscopy
Descripción
Sumario:In this work we evaluate the defects and the associated distortions present in tensile and compressive-strained chemical solution deposition (CSD) derived NdNiO3 (NNO) and LaNiO3 (LNO) thin-films by means of aberration corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM). We elucidate a fundamental link between strain and the most common defect observed in Nickelate films, the Ruddlesden-Popper fault (RPF), which will ultimately impinge on the electrical properties of the films. Overall, the concentration of RPFs defects increases with the lattice mismatch. More specifically, LNO films are always metallic, although transitioning from compressive to tensile strain results in the appearance of RPFs and an increase of the resistivity. On the other hand, NNO films always behave as insulators under tensile strain, whereas under compressive strain the increase of the thickness makes the onset of the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) to shift to higher temperatures.