Toward ultraclean correlated metal CaVO3

Abstract

We report the synthesis and electronic properties of the correlated metal CaVO3, grown by hybrid molecular beam epitaxy. Films were grown on (100) LaAlO3 substrates at a temperature of 900 °C by supplying a flux of elemental Ca through a thermal effusion cell and metalorganic precursor, vanadium oxitriisopropoxide, as a source of vanadium. The presence of a self-regulated growth regime was revealed by the appearance of a specific surface reconstruction detected by reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Films grown within the growth window were characterized by atomically flat surfaces. X-ray reciprocal space maps revealed that the films were coherently strained to the substrate and inherited its twinned microstructure. Despite the presence of twin walls, CaVO3 thin films, grown within the stoichiometric growth window, revealed very low electrical resistivities at low temperatures, with residual resistivity ratios exceeding 90, while films grown at either Ca- or V-excess show deteriorated transport properties, attributed to the presence of extrinsic defects arising from the non-stoichiometry present in these films.