Selective growth of epitaxial Sr2IrO4 by controlling plume dimensions in pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

We report that epitaxial Sr2IrO4 thin-films can be selectively grown using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Due to the competition between the Ruddlesden-Popper phases of strontium iridates (Sr_{n+1}Ir_{n}O_{3n+1}), conventional PLD methods often result in mixed phases of Sr2IrO4 (n = 1), Sr3Ir2O7 (n = 2), and SrIrO3 (n = infinity). We have discovered that reduced PLD plume dimensions and slow deposition rates are the key for stabilizing pure Sr2IrO4 phase thin-films, identified by real-time in-situ monitoring of their optical spectra. The slow film deposition results in a thermodynamically stable TiO2\\SrO\IrO2\SrO\SrO configuration at an interface rather than TiO2\\SrO\SrO\IrO2\SrO between a TiO2-teminated SrTiO3 substrate and a Sr2IrO4 thin film, which is consistent with other layered oxides grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Our approach provides an effective method for using PLD to achieve pure phase thin-films of layered materials that are susceptible to several energetically competing phases.

6 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Novel Jeff = 1/2 Mott State Induced by Relativistic Spin-Orbit Coupling in Sr2IrO4
• Bandwidth-Controlled Insulator-Metal Transition and Correlated Metallic State in 5$d$ Transition Metal Oxides Sr${}_{n+1}$Ir${}_n$O${}_{3n+1}$ ($n$=1, 2, and $\infty$)
• Twisted Hubbard Model for Sr2IrO4: Magnetism and Possible High Temperature Superconductivity
• Monte Carlo study of an unconventional superconducting phase in Ir-oxide J_{eff}=1/2 Mott insulators induced by carrier doping

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Impact of Cation Stoichiometry on the Crystalline Structure and Superconductivity in Nickelates
• Synthesis and electronic properties of Ruddlesden-Popper strontium iridate epitaxial thin films stabilized by control of growth kinetics
• The Jeff=1/2 antiferromagnet Sr2IrO4: A golden avenue toward new physics and functions
• Optical Signatures of Spin-Orbit Exciton in Bandwidth Controlled Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ Epitaxial Films via High-Concentration Ca and Ba Doping
• Nanoscale Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ Freestanding Thin-Films for Flexible Electronics
• Electron-plasmon interaction induced plasmonic-polaron band replication in epitaxial perovskite SrIrO${}_3$ films
• Emergent interlayer magnetic order via strain-induced orthorhombic distortion in the 5d Mott insulator Sr2IrO4