Structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of SrRuO3 under epitaxial strain

Using density functional theory within the local spin density approximation, the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of SrRuO3 are investigated. We examine the magnitude of the orthorhombic distortion in the ground state and also the effects of applying epitaxial constraints, whereby the influence of large (in the range of +/- 4%) in-plane strain resulting from coherent epitaxy, for both [001] and [110] oriented films, has been isolated and investigated. The overall pattern of the structural relaxations reveals coherent distortions of the oxygen octahedron network, which determine the stability of the magnetic moment on the Ru ion. The structural and magnetic parameters exhibit substantial changes, allowing us to discuss the role of symmetry and possibilities of magnetostructural tuning of SrRuO3-based thin-film structures.