Electronic properties in itinerant ferromagnet SrRu$_{1-x}$Ti$_x$O$_3$

TL;DR

This study investigates how Ti substitution affects the electronic transport, magnetic, and thermodynamic properties of SrRuO$_3$, revealing a metal-insulator transition, changes in resistivity behavior, and increasing electronic correlations.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the evolution of electronic and magnetic properties in SrRu$_{1-x}$Ti$_x$O$_3$, highlighting the transition from metallic to insulating states and the role of electron correlations.

Findings

Metal to insulator transition around x~0.4

Resistivity follows modified Mott's VRH model in insulating state

Enhanced electronic correlations with Ti substitution

Abstract

Here, we study the electrical transport and specific heat in 4$d$ based ferromagnetic material SrRuO$_3$ and its Ti substituted SrRu$_{1-x}$Ti$_x$O$_3$ series ($x$ $\le$ 0.7). The SrRuO$_3$ is a metal and shows itinerant ferromagnetism with transition temperature $T_c$ $\sim$ 160 K. The nonmagnetic Ti$^{4+}$ (3$d^0$) substitution would not only weaken the active Ru-O-Ru channel but is also expected to tune the electronic density and electron correlation effect. A metal to insulator transition has been observed around $x$ $\sim$ 0.4. The nature of charge transport in paramagnetic-metallic state ($x$ $\leq$ 0.4) and in insulating state ($x$ $>$ 0.4) follows modified Mott's variable range hopping model. In ferromagnetic-metallic state, resistivity shows a $T^2$ dependence below $T_c$ which though modifies to $T^{3/2}$ dependence at low temperature. In Ti substituted samples, temperature range for $T^{3/2}$ dependence extends to higher temperature. Interestingly, this $T^{3/2}$ dependence dominates in whole ferromagnetic regime in presence of magnetic field. This evolution of electronic transport behavior can be explained within the framework of Fermi liquid theory and electron-magnon scattering mechanism. The negative magnetoresistance exhibits a hysteresis and a crossover between negative and positive value with magnetic field which is connected with magnetic behavior in series. The decreasing electronic coefficient of specific heat with $x$ supports the increasing insulating behavior in present series. We calculate a high Kadowaki-Woods ratio ($x$ $\leq$ 0.3) for SrRuO$_3$ which increases with substitution concentration. This signifies an increasing electronic correlation effect with substitution concentration.