Strain-Mediated High Conductivity in Ultrathin Antiferromagnetic Metallic Nitrides

Jin，Qiao1; Cheng，Hu2; Wang，Zhiwen3; Zhang，Qinghua1; Lin，Shan1; Roldan，Manuel A.4; Zhao，Jiali1,5; Wang，Jia Ou5; Chen，Shuang1,6; He，Meng1; Ge，Chen1; Wang，Can1,7,8; Lu，Hui Bin1; Guo，Haizhong6; Gu，Lin1,7,8; Tong，Xin9; Zhu，Tao1,7,8,9; Wang，Shanmin2; Yang，Hongxin3; Jin，Kui juan1,7,8; Guo，Er Jia1,7,8,10

2020

10.1002/adma.202005920

ADVANCED MATERIALS   影响因子和分区

0935-9648

1521-4095

Strain engineering provides the ability to control the ground states and associated phase transition in epitaxial films. However, the systematic study of the intrinsic character and strain dependency in transition-metal nitrides remains challenging due to the difficulty in fabricating stoichiometric and high-quality films. Here the observation of an electronic state transition in highly crystalline antiferromagnetic CrN films with strain and reduced dimensionality is reported. By shrinking the film thickness to a critical value of ≈30 unit cells, a profound conductivity reduction accompanied by unexpected volume expansion is observed in CrN films. The electrical conductivity is observed surprisingly when the CrN layer is as thin as a single unit cell thick, which is far below the critical thickness of most metallic films. It is found that the metallicity of an ultrathin CrN film recovers from insulating behavior upon the removal of the as-grown strain by the fabrication of freestanding nitride films. Both first-principles calculations and linear dichroism measurements reveal that the strain-mediated orbital splitting effectively customizes the relatively small bandgap at the Fermi level, leading to an exotic phase transition in CrN. The ability to achieve highly conductive nitride ultrathin films by harnessing strain-control over competing phases can be used for utilizing their exceptional characteristics.

metal-to-insulator transition strain engineering transition metal nitrides ultrathin films

SCI ; EI

英语

NI期刊

其他

National Key Basic Research Program of China[2019YFA0308500][2020YFA0309100] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[11974390][52025025][52072400] ; Beijing Nova Program of Science and Technology[Z191100001119112] ; Beijing Natural Science Foundation[2202060] ; program for the Innovation Team of Science and Technology in University of Henan[20IRTSTHN014] ; Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences[XDB33030200]

Chemistry ; Science & Technology - Other Topics ; Materials Science ; Physics

Chemistry, Multidisciplinary ; Chemistry, Physical ; Nanoscience & Nanotechnology ; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary ; Physics, Applied ; Physics, Condensed Matter

WOS:000594787900001

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH

20204909573468

Chromium compounds ; Ground state ; Antiferromagnetism ; Metal insulator transition ; Transition metals ; Calculations ; Dichroism ; Nitrides

Metallurgy and Metallography:531 ; Magnetism: Basic Concepts and Phenomena:701.2 ; Light/Optics:741.1 ; Inorganic Compounds:804.2 ; Mathematics:921

MATERIALS SCIENCE

2-s2.0-85096964938

Scopus

1.Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,100190,China
2.Department of Physics,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
3.Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Ningbo,315201,China
4.Eyring Materials Center,Arizona State University,Tempe,85287,United States
5.Institute of High Energy Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,100049,China
6.Key Laboratory of Material Physics,Ministry of Education,School of Physics and Microelectronics,Zhengzhou University,Zhengzhou,450001,China
7.Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory,Dongguan,523808,China
8.School of Physical Sciences,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,100190,China
9.China Spallation Neutron Source,Institute of High Energy Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,100049,China
10.Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,100049,China

Jin，Qiao,Cheng，Hu,Wang，Zhiwen,et al. Strain-Mediated High Conductivity in Ultrathin Antiferromagnetic Metallic Nitrides[J]. ADVANCED MATERIALS,2020,33(2).

Jin，Qiao.,Cheng，Hu.,Wang，Zhiwen.,Zhang，Qinghua.,Lin，Shan.,...&Guo，Er Jia.(2020).Strain-Mediated High Conductivity in Ultrathin Antiferromagnetic Metallic Nitrides.ADVANCED MATERIALS,33(2).

Jin，Qiao,et al."Strain-Mediated High Conductivity in Ultrathin Antiferromagnetic Metallic Nitrides".ADVANCED MATERIALS 33.2(2020).