Evolution of structural, magnetic and electrical transport properties of Y1.7Bi0.3Ir2O7 thin film grown on YSZ(100) substrate by PLD

Abstract

Recently, it have been proposed theoretically that pyrochlore iridate thin film exhibit a variety of emergent topological phases. To realize these exotic phases in pyrochlore iridate thin film, it is necessary to fabricate good quality of thin film. Here, we report fabrication, structural, magnetic and electrical transport properties of Y1.7Bi0.3Ir2O7 thin film deposited on Yttria-stabilized zirconia(100) substrate by pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement suggests polycrystalline nature of film and have lattice parameters greater than its bulk polycrystalline counterpart. Electrical transport measurement shows insulating nature of film throughout entire temperature regime (upto 80 K), although its bulk polycrystalline counterpart exhibit metal insulator transition at ~120 K. On the other hand, magnetic measurement displays no difference between both branches of zero-field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) magnetic susceptibilities in thin film as compared to bulk sample, suggest absence of long range magnetic ordering. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of film shows coexistence of mixed oxidation states of Ir, (i.e. Ir4+ and Ir3+), compared to its bulk counterpart, might be responsible for absence of electrical conduction and ordered state.