Effect of thermal treatment on oxygen stoichiometry and transport properties of SrRuO3 thin films

The oxygen content was evaluated using the non-Rutherford elastic resonant scattering method for SrRuO3 (SRO) thin films deposited on (001) SrTiO3 substrates by a sputtering technique, followed by postannealing in various conditions. The resistivity of the SRO film annealed in 50mTorr Ar at 500°C was not higher than 4×10−3Ωcm in the range of 5–300K despite its oxygen deficiency (=2.7). On the other hand, the SRO film annealed in an Ar+1% O2 mixture gas of 50mTorr at 700°C retained its oxygen stoichiometry and maintained its resistivity below 5×10−4Ωcm.