Study of the electronic phase transition with low dimensionality in SrVO3 thin films

Abstract

Transport and structural properties of ultrathin films of SrVO3 (SVO) on SrTiO3 (001) substrates have been investigated and correlations between Metal-Insulator Transition (MIT) and strain relaxation have been studied. Below a critical thickness, when the film is subjected to tensile strain, the resistivity of the films is increasing with decreasing film thickness. Transport properties evolve from metallic to strongly localized state in several monolayer thick films, showing the bandwidth W control of the Mott-Hubbard transition with the film thickness. Furthermore, a dimensional crossover from 3 Dimensions to 2 Dimensions has been studied by transport measurements. Using Quantum Corrections to the Conductivity (QCC), it is demonstrated that MIT is due to renormalized electron-electron interaction in this material. Finally, for films with the thickness below 6nm, the confinement provides new effect in magnetotransport with apparition of weak antilocalization in ultrathin films.