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Effect of modest hydrostatic pressure on low-temperature transport behavior in thin films
Phys. Rev. B 114, 055128 – Published 24 July, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/zjnc-vv8p
Abstract
The discovery of superconductivity in bilayer nickel oxides has revived an intense effort to understand the potential of high-temperature superconductivity in these materials and their relation to cuprate superconductors. In this work, we investigate the growth and properties of bilayer thin films as a function of substrate, oxygen treatment, and applied pressure in order to study the evolution of transport properties. We report epitaxial growth of thin films on (LAO) (001) and (SLAO) (001) substrates, and the effects of ex situ annealing in a high-pressure furnace under an oxygen-rich environment (15 bar). Transport measurements show that the thin films on LAO(001) exhibit Fermi-liquid-like metallic behavior with a slight Kondo-like upturn at low temperatures, which evolves with the application of modest hydrostatic pressures toward non-Fermi-liquid behavior with a temperature dependence of resistance approaching at 1.41 GPa. The ability to tune the normal state resistivity of films to display non-Fermi-liquid behavior under such a modest hydrostatic pressure range—only 6–8 % of that typically applied via diamond anvil cell in single crystals to achieve comparable effects—is both noteworthy and unexpected. These findings imply the strong tunability of thin film under epitaxial strain and hydrostatic pressure leading to exotic transport behavior at low temperatures.