Properties of epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films

Abstract

SrRuO₃ thin films were deposited on (100) LaAlO₃ using pulsed laser deposition. The films were (001) oriented normal to the substrate surface with a high degree of in‐plane orientation with respect to the substrate’s major axes. An ion beam minimum yield of 2.5% was obtained for the films, indicating high crystallinity. The films exhibited metallic behavior with a room temperature resistivity of ∼200 mW cm. A kink in the resistivity, corresponding to a ferromagnetic phase transition, was observed at ∼160 K. It was found that SrRuO₃ is structurally and chemically compatible with the YaB₂Cu₃O_7−d (YBCO) superconductors. High quality YBCO films were obtained on SrRuO₃ LaAlO₃. Multilayers of YBCO/SrRuO₃ were successfully fabricated.