Electrical properties of SrRuO₃ thin films wih varying c-axis lattice constant

We studied the effect of the variation of the lattice constant on the electrical properties of SrRuO₃ thin films. In order to obtain films with different volumes, we varied the substrate temperature and oxygen pressure during the growth of the films on SrTiO₃ (001) substrates. The films were grown using a pulsed laser deposition method. The X-ray diffraction patterns of the grown films at low temperature and low oxygen pressure indicated the elongation of the c-axis lattice constant compared to that of the films grown at a higher temperature and higher oxygen pressure. The in-plane strain states are maintained for all of the films, implying the expansion of the unit-cell volume by the oxygen vacancies. The variation of the electrical resistance reflects the temperature dependence of the resistivity of the metal, with a ferromagnetic transition temperature inferred form the cusp of the curve being observed in the range from 110 K to 150 K. As the c-axis lattice constant decreases, the transition temperature linearly increases.