Strain control of the metal-insulator transition in epitaxial SrCrO$_{3}$ thin films

Abstract

In the perovskite oxide SrCrO$_{3}$ the interplay between crystal structure, strain and orbital ordering enables a transition from a metallic to an insulating electronic structure under certain conditions. We identified a narrow window of oxygen partial pressure in which highly strained SrCrO$_{3}$ thin films can be grown using radio-frequency (RF) off-axis magnetron sputtering on three different substrates, (LaAlO$_{3}$)$_{0.3}$-(Sr$_{2}$TaAlO$_{6}$)$_{0.7}$ (LSAT), SrTiO$_{3}$ (STO) and DyScO$_{3}$ (DSO). X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy confirmed the quality of the films and a metal-insulator transition driven by the substrate induced strain was demonstrated.