Influence of Al-doping on the structural and electronic properties of NdNiO3 thin films

Abstract

NdNiO3 is well-known in the scientific world for its metal to insulator transition (MIT), which can be used in ultrafast switches, photovoltaics, temperature sensors, and other applications. We have synthesized Al-doped NdNiO3 thin films on LAO (001) single crystalsubstrate using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique with varying doping percentages. To check the phase purity, X-ray diffraction (XRD) has been performed. Both room-temperature, and temperature-dependent Raman data have been recorded to explore phonon modes and a temperature study of resistivity has been performed to investigate the MIT of the sample. NdNiO3 exhibits a metal-to-insulator phase at ~ 75K, and the transition temperature increases with Al doping. 20% Al-doped NdNiO3 thin film shows complete insulating behavior below room temperature. Raman data suggests the octahedral distortion and charge ordering in NiO6 octahedra which assist to explain the insulating behavior of the sample.