Electrically induced insulator to metal transition in epitaxial SmNiO3 thin films

Abstract

We report on the electrically induced insulator to metal transition (IMT) in SmNiO3 thin films grown on (001) LaAlO3 by pulsed laser deposition. The behavior of the resistivity as a function of temperature suggests that the primary transport mechanism in the SmNiO3 insulating state is dominated by Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping (ES-VRH). Additionally, the magnetic transition in the insulating state of SmNiO3 modifies the characteristics of the ES-VRH transport. Systematic DC and pulsed current-voltage measurements indicate that current-induced joule heating is the fundamental mechanism driving the electrically induced IMT in SmNiO3. These transport properties are explained in context of the IMT in SmNiO3 being related to the strong electron-lattice coupling.

Electrical Switching in Thin Film Structures Based on Transition Metal Oxides

“…Finally, we note that electronically induced switching associated with the MIT has been reported for a number of other materials (not only for VO 2 ), for example, in a family of Mott insulators AM 4 X 8 (A = Ga, Ge; M = V, Nb, Ta; X = S, Se) [137,138], SmNiO 3 [139], -Pb x V 2 O 5 [140], and H-doped NbO 2 [141].…”

A Material Framework for Beyond-CMOS Devices

“…However, SmNiO 3 exhibits a MIT above room temperature. A recent study of SmNiO 3 thin films by Lederman has confirmed this [20]. The fundamental mechanism driving the MIT in SmNiO 3 is induced Joule self-heating.…”

Overlooked Transportation Anisotropies in d-Band Correlated Rare-Earth Perovskite Nickelates

“…Such performance achieved in SNO epitaxy on the (110) oriented substrate benefits more for the practical thermistor applications at low temperature ranges, compared to the one achieved in other oriented samples [10] . In Figure 2f value (B=-T 2 TCR) that evaluates the performance of the negative TCR thermistor [26] , and it can be seen that the SNO/LAO(110) sample exhibits a better thermistor performance across a broad-temperature range compared to the previous reports for SNO [10,[21][22][23][24][25] .…”