Strain-mediated electric-field control of the electronic transport properties of 5d iridate thin films of SrIrO3

SrIrO3 (SIO) thin films were epitaxially grown on (001)-oriented 0.7Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-0.3PbTiO(3) (PMN-PT) single-crystal substrates. Upon applying electric fields to the piezoelectric PMN-PT along the thickness direction, the electronic transport properties of SIO films can be in situ tuned and modulated by non-180 & DEG; ferroelectric domain rotation-induced strain, piezoelectric strain, and rhombohedral-to-tetragonal structural phase transition-induced strain in the PMN-PT layer, respectively. Moreover, the weak negative magnetoresistance (MR) of the 60-nm SIO films could be modified by applying an electric field to the PMN-PT layer. At T = 2 K, upon the application of E = 4 kV/cm to the PMN-PT, MR at H = 9 T is reduced by 14.2% as compared to that under zero electric field, indicating in-plane compressive strain-induced suppression of the influence of quantum corrections to the conductivity in the SIO film. These results demonstrate that the electric-field controllable lattice strain is a simple approach to get insight into the strain-property relationships of 5d iridate thin films.

Automated summary

Epitaxial growth of SrIrO3 (SIO) thin films on (001)-oriented 0.7Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-0.3PbTiO(3) (PMN-PT) single-crystal substrates enables in situ tuning and modulation of the electronic transport properties of SIO films through strain induced by ferroelectric domain rotation, piezoelectric effect, and structural phase transition in the PMN-PT layer. Furthermore, the weak negative magnetoresistance (MR) of the SIO films can be modified by applying an electric field to the PMN-PT layer, showing in-plane compressive strain-induced suppression of quantum corrections to the conductivity in the SIO film. These results demonstrate the importance of electric-field controllable lattice strain in understanding the strain-property relationships of 5d iridate thin films.