Electronic and Structural Properties of LaNiO₃-Based Heterostructures

Description

This thesis explores an amazing family of oxide compounds - the nickelates - known for their metal-to-insulator transition and, in the case of LaNiO3, to be a possible building block for designing a synthetic high Tc superconductor. Competition between various fascinating phases makes these materials very sensitive to external parameters and it is thus possible to dramatically tune their properties. This work on ultrathin LaNiO3 and the solid solution Nd1-xLaxNiO3 has important implications for the search for superconductivity in this class of materials. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction to Perovskite Oxides (Jennifer Fowlie)....Pages 1-8 Introduction to Thin Film Physics (Jennifer Fowlie)....Pages 9-17 Introduction to the Nickelates (Jennifer Fowlie)....Pages 19-30 Experimental Techniques (Jennifer Fowlie)....Pages 31-48 Quantifying Octahedral Distortions in Perovskites (Jennifer Fowlie)....Pages 49-64 Ultrathin LaNiO\(_{3}\) (Jennifer Fowlie)....Pages 65-77 The Nd\(_{1-x}\)La\(_{x}\)NiO\(_{3}\) Solid Solution (Jennifer Fowlie)....Pages 79-95 Conclusions and Perspectives (Jennifer Fowlie)....Pages 97-98 Back Matter ....Pages 99-101