Synthesis and electronic properties of Nd${}_{n+1}$Ni${}_n$O${}_{3n+1}$ Ruddlesden-Popper nickelate thin films

Abstract

The rare-earth nickelates possess a diverse set of collective phenomena including metal-to-insulator transitions, magnetic phase transitions, and, upon chemical reduction, superconductivity. Here, we demonstrate epitaxial stabilization of layered nickelates in the Ruddlesden-Popper form, Nd${}_{n+1}$Ni${}_n$O${}_{3n+1}$, using molecular beam epitaxy. By optimizing the stoichiometry of the parent perovskite NdNiO${}_3$, we can reproducibly synthesize the $n=1-5$ member compounds. X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the O $K$ and Ni $L$ edges indicate systematic changes in both the nickel-oxygen hybridization level and nominal nickel filling from 3$d^8$ to 3$d^7$ as we move across the series from $n=1$ to $n=\infty$. The $n=3-5$ compounds exhibit weakly hysteretic metal-to-insulator transitions with transition temperatures that depress with increasing order toward NdNiO${}_3$ ($n=\infty )$.

11 pages, 4 figures with Supplemental Information

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• Epitaxial growth of Ruddlesden-Popper neodymium nickelates Nd${}_{n+1}$Ni${}_n$O${}_{3n+1}$ ($n$ = 1-5)

Cited by in corpus (14)

• Visualization of Oxygen Vacancies and Self-doped Ligand Holes in La3Ni2O7-δ
• Design and synthesis of three-dimensional hybrid Ruddlesden-Popper nickelate single crystals
• Limits to the strain engineering of layered square-planar nickelate thin films
• Electronic structure of Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates: strain to mimic the effects pressure
• Synthesis of thin film infinite-layer nickelates by atomic hydrogen reduction: clarifying the role of the capping layer
• Advances in Complex Oxide Quantum Materials Through New Approaches to Molecular Beam Epitaxy
• Many-body electronic structure of $d^{9-\delta }$ layered nickelates
• Atomic-scale mapping and quantification of local Ruddlesden-Popper phase variations
• Electronic correlations, layer distinction, and electron doping in the alternating single-layer trilayer La${}_3$Ni${}_2$O${}_7$ polymorph
• Electronic band structure of a superconducting nickelate probed by the Seebeck coefficient in the disordered limit
• Landau theory of the density wave transition in trilayer Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates
• Magnetic excitations in Nd${}_{n+1}$Ni${}_n$O${}_{3n+1}$ Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates observed via resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
• Superconducting phase diagram of multi-layer square-planar nickelates
• Valency, charge-transfer, and orbital-dependent correlation in bilayer nickelates Nd3Ni2O7