SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
DC Current Induced Metal-Insulator Transition in
Epitaxial Sm0.6Nd0.4NiO3/LaAlO3 Thin Film
Haoliang Huang1, 2, Zhenlin Luo2, 3, Yuanjun Yang2, 3, Yu Yun2, Mengmeng
Yang2, 3, Dechao Meng2, Haibo Wang2, 3, Sixia Hu2, 3, Jun Bao2, 3, Yalin Lu2,
Chen Gao1, 2, 3
1
Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
2
CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
3
National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory & School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of
Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
Estimation of the temperature rising caused by Joule heating
When measuring the temperature dependence of resistivity under different DC current densities, the
current-induced Joule heating effect in the sample is inevitable. We estimated the current-induced
temperature rise in our sample based on the Fourier heat transfer Law at 200 K:
Q' = -k
where,
Q'
DT
x
,
(1)
is the heat power flowing density through the sample,
DT
x
is the temperature gradient,
x is the thickness of the substrate, as shown in Fig. S1 (a). The sign in the expression is chosen so that
always κ > 0 as heat always flows from a high temperature to a low temperature. [1, 2]
For our Sm0.6Nd0.4NiO3/LaAlO3 (SNNO/LAO) film, the Joule heat was produced in the film and
conducted to cold sample holder through the substrate, therefore the temperature rise can be estimated
by:
DT =
Q' x
k
=
j 2 rT+DT tx
k
,
(2)
where, x and t are the thicknesses of the LAO substrate and SNNO film. x=0.5 mm and t=10 nm. ρ(T)
can be obtained from experimental measurement as shown in Fig. S1 (b), and κsub is assumed an
average value 15 W/m K. As a result, when a current of 4.9×109 A•m-2 passes through the sample,
T  T is about 1.5×10-5 Ω•m for 200 K,
4.9 10 
T 
9 2
 1.5  10-5  10  10-9  0.5  10-3
 40 K ,
15
which is not enough to transfer the film with intrinsic TMI=282 K from insulator to metallic.
(3)
(a)
(b)
High temperature
3
Substrate
t
x
Q' =
dQ
dt
Low temperature
ΔT
-5
A
2
Resistivity (10 W×m)
Thin Film
0.003´109
-2
4.9´109 A×m
1
160
200
240
280
320
Temperature (K)
Fig. S1.
(a) Diagram of the heat flowing through the sample. (b) The temperature-dependent resistivity of the
film under current 0.003×109 A•m-2 and 4.9×109 A•m-2, respectively.
References:
[1] S. O. Kasap, Principle of electronic materials and devices, Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2002.
[2] T. M. Tritt, Thermal Conductivity: Theory, Properties, and Applications, Kluwer Academic/Plenum
Publishers, 2004.