Ca₂RuO₄thin film growth by pulsed laser deposition

Bulk Ca₂RuO₄ is an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator with the metal-insulator transition above room temperature, and the Neel temperature at 113 K. There is strong coupling between crystal structures and magnetic, electronic phase transitions in this system. It exhibits high sensitivity to chemical doping and pressure that makes it very interesting material to study, We have epitaxially grown Ca₂RuO₄ thin films on LaAlO₃ substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. Growth conditions such as substrate temperature and O₂ pressure were systematically varied in order to achieve high quality single-phase film. Crystalline quality and orientation of these films were characterized by X-ray diffractometry. Microstructure of the thin films was examined by transmission electron microscopy. The electrical transport properties were also measured and compared with bulk single crystal.