We report on the growth of epitaxial Sr2RuO4 films using a hybrid molecular beam epitaxy approach in which a volatile precursor containing RuO4 is used to supply ruthenium and oxygen. The use of the precursor overcomes a number of issues encountered in traditional MBE that uses elemental metal sources. Phase-pure, epitaxial thin films of Sr2RuO4 are obtained. At high substrate temperatures, growth proceeds in a layer-by-layer mode with intensity oscillations observed in reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Films are of high structural quality, as documented by x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The method should be suitable for the growth of other complex oxides containing ruthenium, opening up opportunities to investigate thin films that host rich exotic ground states.
The superconducting order parameter of strontium ruthenate is the center of a lasting puzzle calling for theoretical studies that include the seldom-considered effects of spin-orbit coupling and the frequency-dependence of the order parameters. Here we generalize the frequency-dependent theory of superconductivity mediated by spin and charge fluctuations to include spin-orbit coupling in multi-orbital systems and we characterize the superconducting states using the spin-parity-orbital-time $SPOT$ quantum numbers, group theory, and phase distributions in the complex plane. We derive a pseudospi…
The lasting puzzle of the superconducting order parameter of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ calls for theoretical studies that include seldom-considered effects. Here we include spin-orbit coupling effects on the electronic structure and then solve the linearized Eliashberg equation in a pseudospin basis, including the possibility that spin and charge fluctuations induce frequency-dependent superconducting order parameters. We find that spin-orbit coupling mixes even and odd contributions in orbital, spin and frequency spaces and that leading inter-pseudospin symmetries, B$_{1g}^+$ and A$_{2g}^-$, have intra-o…
Stoichiometric Epitaxial Strontium Titanate Thin Films on Silicon by High-Temperature Sr Segregation
Imec；Department of Materials Engineering (MTM), KU Leuven（荷语鲁汶大学材料工程系）；Physics Department, Jean Monnet University（圣艾蒂安让·穆内大学物理系）；Department of Information Technology (INTEC), Photonics Research Group, Ghent University（根特大学信息与科技学院光子学研究组）
Hole-doped perovskite bismuthates such as Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$BiO$_3$ and Sr$_{1-x}$K$_x$BiO$_3$ are well-known bismuth-based oxide high-transition-temperature superconductors. Reported thin bismuthate films show relatively low quality, likely due to their large lattice mismatch with the substrate and a low sticking coefficient of Bi at high temperatures. Here, we report the successful epitaxial thin film growth of the parent compound strontium bismuthate SrBiO$_3$ on SrO-terminated SrTiO$_3$ (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Two different growth methods, high-temperature co-deposition or…
