IR thermometry: a new tool for contactless in situ investigations of metal–insulator transition

摘要

In the present work, we focus on an original study of metal–insulator transition in LaNiO₃ (LNO) compound by IR camera mounted on a pulsed laser deposition chamber. IR thermometry is based on the measurement of the radiated energy that is a function of the surface temperature and the emissivity (ε) of a material. Thus, at a fixed high temperature in an oxygen equilibrium state and by fixing arbitrary an emissivity value, we can follow the evolution of the “measured temperature” linked to the change of the real emissivity value during a reduction/reoxygenation treatment. The variation of emissivity is correlated to the change in optical constants, e.g. to the conductivity measured simultaneously by an in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry. The combination of both techniques offers a convenient way to observe in situ and contactless changes from metallic to insulator behavior and vice versa.