Artificial charge modulation in perovskite vanadate superlattices

A series of epitaxial (LaVO3)(6m)(SrVO3). superlattices having the same nominal composition as La6/7Sr1/7VO3, a Mott-Hubbard insulator, was grown with pulsed-laser deposition on [001]-oriented SrTiO3 substrates, and their superlattice period is varied. When m=1, the insulating resistivity of bulk-like La6/7Sr1/7VO3 is obtained; however, an increase in the periodicity (m >= 2) results in metallic samples. Comparison of the superlattice periodicity with the coherence length of charge carriers in perovskite oxide heterostructures is used to understand these observations. A filling-controlled insulator-metal transition is induced by placing a single dopant layer of SrVO3 within LaVO3 layers of varying thickness. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.