Mechanisms of metal–insulator transitions in ultrathin SrMoO3 films

Abstract

As the thickness of a transition metal oxide thin film is reduced to several unit cells, dimensional and interfacial effects modulate its structure and properties, and initiate low-dimension quantum phase transitions different from its bulk counterparts. To check if a metal–insulator transition (MIT) occurs to a low-dimensional 4 electron systems, we investigated SrMoO3 thin films by characterizing and analyzing their lattice structures, electric transport properties and electronic states. Among various dimensional effects and interfacial effects, quantum confinement effect (QCE) was discerned as the dominating mechanism of the thickness-driven MIT. Surface/interface scattering contributes to the residual resistivity while the competition of several interactions modulated by QCE governs the temperature dependence of the resistivity of SrMoO3 ultrathin films.