中文

Journal of Shanghai University >

2026 , Vol. 32 >Issue 1: 17 - 32

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12066/j.issn.1007-2861.2577

Materials Science

Rare earth nickelates: metal-insulator transition and superconducting properties

  • LI Minjuan ,
  • CHEN Mingyao ,
  • YIN Xinmao ,
  • CAI Chuanbing
Expand
  • Shanghai Key Laboratory of High Temperature Superconductors, College of Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China

Received date: 2024-03-13

  Online published: 2026-03-16

Fold

Abstract

A comprehensive introduction was provided to the basic structure and properties of rare earth nickelates, offering an in-depth summary of their metal-insulator transition (MIT) characteristics as well as the regulation of the MIT process by epitaxial strain, film thickness, and chemical doping. In addition, research on hydrogen-induced phase transition in nickelates was discussed, and a systematic reference was provided to understand and regulate the MIT. Furthermore, the superconductivity of nickelates was reviewed, and it included the exploration of superconductivity in this system and the research progress on La3Ni2O7 superconductors. The summarized research on nickel-based superconductors not only contributed to the acceleration of the exploration of novel superconducting materials but also held significant research value in its uncovering of the mechanisms of high-temperature superconductivity.

Key words： rare earth nickelate; metal-insulation transition (MIT); hydrogenated rare earth nickelate; nickel-based superconductivity

Cite this article

LI Minjuan , CHEN Mingyao , YIN Xinmao , CAI Chuanbing . Rare earth nickelates: metal-insulator transition and superconducting properties[J]. Journal of Shanghai University, 2026 , 32(1) : 17 -32 . DOI: 10.12066/j.issn.1007-2861.2577

References

[1] Koren G, Eyal A, Iomin L, et al. Observation of Josephson-like tunneling junction characteristics and positive magnetoresistance in oxygen deflcient nickelate films of Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO3-δ [J]. Materials, 2021, 14(24): 05277.
[2] Geisler B, Pentcheva R. Correlated interface electron gas in infinite-layer nickelate versus cuprate films on SrTiO3(001) [J]. Physical Review Research, 2021, 3(1): 013261.
[3] Demazeau G, Marbeuf A, Pouchard M, et al. Sur une sÉrie de composÉs oxygenes du nickel trivalent derivÉs de la perovskite [J]. Journal of Solid State Chemistry, 1971, 3(4): 582-589.
[4] Shao T, Qi Z, Wang Y, et al. Metal-insulator transition in epitaxial NdNiO3 thin film: a structural, electrical and optical study [J]. Applied Surface Science, 2017, 399: 346-350.
[5] Xiang P H, Asanuma S, Yamada H, et al. Room temperature Mott metal-insulator transition and its systematic control in Sm1-xCaxNiO3 thin films [J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2010, 97(3): 032114.
[6] Klauss H H. Spin stripe order and superconductivity in layered transition metal oxides [J]. Journal of Physics Condensed Matter, 2004, 16(40): S4457-S4478.
[7] Osada M, Wang B Y, Goodge B H, et al. Nickelate superconductivity without rare-earth magnetism: (La, Sr)NiO2[J]. Advanced Materials, 2021, 33(45): 202104083.
[8] Li D, Lee K, Wang B Y, et al. Superconductivity in an infinite-layer nickelate [J]. Nature, 2019, 572(7771): 624.
[9] Si L, Worm P, Held K. Fingerprints of topotactic hydrogen in nickelate superconductors [J]. Crystals, 2022, 12(5): 12050656.
[10] Catalano S, Gibert M, Fowlie J, et al. Rare-earth nickelates RNiO3: thin films and heterostructures [J]. Reports on Progress in Physics, 2018, 81(4): 046501.
[11] Liu J, Kargarian M, Kareev M, et al. Heterointerface engineered electronic and magnetic phases of NdNiO3 thin films [J]. Nature Communications, 2013, 4(1): 2714.
[12] Chang L, Wang L, You L, et al. Tuning photovoltaic performance of perovskite nickelates heterostructures by changing the A-site rare-earth element [J]. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2019, 11(17): 16191-16197.
[13] Hu J, Wang X, Zhang L, et al. High-performance solar-blind photodetector based on Smdoped perovskite rare-earth nickelate heterojunctions [J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2023, 123(4): 042108.
[14] Fuengerlings A, Wohlgemuth M, Antipin D, et al. Crystal-facet-dependent surface transformation dictates the oxygen evolution reaction activity in lanthanum nickelate [J]. Nature Communications, 2023, 14: 8284.
[15] Zhang H T, Zuo F, Li F, et al. Perovskite nickelates as bio-electronic interfaces [J]. Nature Communications, 2019, 10(1): 1651.
[16] Shi J, Zhou Y, Ramanathan S. Colossal resistance switching and band gap modulation in a perovskite nickelate by electron doping [J]. Nature Communications, 2014, 5(1): 4860.
[17] Hauser A J, Mikheev E, Moreno N E, et al. Correlation between stoichiometry, strain, and metal-insulator transitions of NdNiO3 films [J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2015, 106(9): 092104.
[18] Wang L, Stoerzinger K A, Chang L, et al. Strain effect on oxygen evolution reaction activity of epitaxial NdNiO3 thin films [J]. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2019, 11(13): 12941-12947.
[19] Liu J, Kareev M, Gray B, et al. Strain-mediated metal-insulator transition in epitaxial ultrathin films of NdNiO3[J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2010, 96(23): 233110.
[20] Kumar Y, Choudhary R J, Sharma S K, et al. Strain dependent stabilization of metallic paramagnetic state in epitaxial NdNiO3 thin films [J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2012, 101(13): 132101.
[21] Xiang P H, Zhong N, Duan C G, et al. Strain controlled metal-insulator transition in epitaxial NdNiO3 thin films [J]. Journal of Applied Physics, 2013, 114(24): 243713.
[22] Kim T H, Paudel T R, Green R J, et al. Strain-driven disproportionation at a correlated oxide metal-insulator transition [J]. Physical Review B, 2020, 101(12): 121105.
[23] Guo Q, Farokhipoor S, Magen C, et al. Tunable resistivity exponents in the metallic phase of epitaxial nickelates [J]. Nature Communications, 2020, 11(1): 2949.
[24] Wang L, Ju S, You L, et al. Competition between strain and dimensionality effects on the electronic phase transitions in NdNiO3 films [J]. Scientific Reports, 2015, 5(1): 18707.
[25] Peng J J, Song C, Wang M, et al. Manipulating the metal-to-insulator transition of NdNiO3 films by orbital polarization [J]. Physical Review B, 2016, 93(23): 235102.
[26] Lian X K, Chen F, Tan X L, et al. Controlling the sharpness of room-temperature metalinsulator transition in epitaxial Sm0.5Nd0.5NiO3 films [J]. AIP Advances, 2013, 3(6): 062133.
[27] Hamet J F, Ambrosini A, Retoux R. Nd0.8Y0.2NiO3 thin films with room-temperature metal-insulator transition deposited by pulsed laser ablation [J]. Journal of Applied Physics, 2003, 93(9): 5136-5139.
[28] Patel R K, Patra K, Ojha S K, et al. Hole doping in a negative charge transfer insulator [J]. Communications Physics, 2022, 5(1): 216.
[29] Chen J, Zhou Y, Middey S, et al. Self-limited kinetics of electron doping in correlated oxides [J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2015, 107(3): 031905.
[30] Oh C, Heo S, Jang H M, et al. Correlated memory resistor in epitaxial NdNiO3 heterostructures with asymmetrical proton concentration [J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2016, 108(12): 122106.
[31] Zhou Y, Guan X, Zhou H, et al. Strongly correlated perovskite fuel cells [J]. Nature, 2016, 534(7606): 231-234.
[32] Zhang Z, Schwanz D, Narayanan B, et al. Perovskite nickelates as electric-field sensors in salt water [J]. Nature, 2018, 553(7686): 68-72.
[33] Yuan Y, Kotiuga M, Park T J, et al. Hydrogen-induced tunable remanent polarization in a perovskite nickelate [J]. Nature Communications, 2024, 15(1): 4717.
[34] Sun Y, Nguyen T N H, Anderson A, et al. In vivo glutamate sensing inside the mouse brain with perovskite nickelate-naflon heterostructures [J]. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2020, 12(22): 24564-24574.
[35] Zuo F, Panda P, Kotiuga M, et al. Habituation based synaptic plasticity and organismic learning in a quantum perovskite [J]. Nature Communications, 2017, 8(1): 240.
[36] Oh C, Jo M, Son J. All-solid-state synaptic transistors with high-temperature stability using proton pump gating of strongly correlated materials [J]. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2019, 11(17): 15733-15740.
[37] Bian Y, Li H, Yan F, et al. Hydrogen induced electronic transition within correlated perovskite nickelates with heavy rare-earth composition [J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2022, 120(9): 092103.
[38] Ren H, Osaka A I, Hattori A N, et al. Controllable strongly electron-correlated properties of NdNiO3 induced by large-area protonation with metal-acid treatment [J]. ACS Applied Electronic Materials, 2022, 4(7): 3495-3502.
[39] Chen H, Dong M, Hu Y, et al. Protonation-induced colossal chemical expansion and property tuning in NdNiO3 revealed by proton concentration gradient thin films [J]. Nano Letters, 2022, 22(22): 8983-8990.
[40] Gao L, Wang H, Meng F, et al. Unveiling strong ion-electron-lattice coupling and electronic antidoping in hydrogenated perovskite nickelate [J]. Advanced Materials, 2023, 35(26): 2300617.
[41] Hayward M A, Green M A, Rosseinsky M J, et al. Sodium hydride as a powerful reducing agent for topotactic oxide deintercalation: synthesis and characterization of the nickel(I) oxide LaNiO2[J]. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1999, 121(38): 8843-8854.
[42] Hayward M A, Rosseinsky M J. Synthesis of the infinite layer Ni(I) phase NdNiO2+x by low temperature reduction of NdNiO3 with sodium hydride [J]. Solid State Sciences, 2003, 5(6): 839-850.
[43] Ji Y, Liu J, Li L, et al. Superconductivity in infinite layer nickelates [J]. Journal of Applied Physics, 2021, 130(6): 060901.
[44] Levitz P, Crespin M, Gatineau L. Reduced forms of LaNiO3 perovskite. Part 2. X-ray structure of LaNiO2 and extended X-ray absorption flne structure study: local environment of monovalent nickel [J]. Journal of the Chemical Society, Faraday Transactions 2: Molecular and Chemical Physics, 1983, 79(8): 1195-1203.
[45] Hansmann P, Yang X, Toschi A, et al. Turning a nickelate Fermi surface into a cupratelike one through heterostructuring [J]. Physical Review Letters, 2009, 103(1): 016401.
[46] Lacorre P. Passage from T-type to T’-type arrangement by reducing R4Ni3O10 to R4Ni3O8(R=La, Pr, Nd) [J]. Journal of Solid State Chemistry, 1992, 97(2): 495-500.
[47] Zhang J, Chen Y S, Phelan D, et al. Stacked charge stripes in the quasi-2D trilayer nickelate La4Ni3O8[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2016, 113(32): 8945-8950.
[48] Zhang J, Botana A S, Freeland J W, et al. Large orbital polarization in a metallic squareplanar nickelate [J]. Nature Physics, 2017, 13(9): 864-869.
[49] Poltavets V V, Lokshin K A, Dikmen S, et al. La3Ni2O6: a new double T’-type nickelate with infinite Ni1+=2+O2 layers [J]. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2006, 128(28): 9050-9051.
[50] Li D, Wang B Y, Lee K, et al. Superconducting dome in Nd1-xSrxNiO2 infinite layer films [J]. Physical Review Letters, 2020, 125(2): 027001.
[51] Osada M, Wang B Y, Goodge B H, et al. A superconducting praseodymium nickelate with infinite layer structure [J]. Nano Letters, 2020, 20(8): 5735-5740.
[52] Zeng S, Li C, Chow L E, et al. Superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelate La1-xCaxNiO2 thin films [J]. Science Advances, 2022, 8(7): 19927.
[53] Wang N N, Yang M W, Yang Z, et al. Pressure-induced monotonic enhancement of Tc to over 30 K in superconducting Pr0.82Sr0.18NiO2 thin films [J]. Nature Communications, 2022, 13(1): 4367.
[54] Ding X, Tam C C, Sui X, et al. Critical role of hydrogen for superconductivity in nickelates [J]. Nature, 2023, 615(7950): 50-55.
[55] Wei W, Vu D, Zhang Z, et al. Superconducting Nd1-xEuxNiO2 thin films using in situ synthesis [J]. Science Advances, 2023, 9(27): 3327.
[56] Gu Q, Li Y, Wan S, et al. Single particle tunneling spectrum of superconducting Nd1-xSrxNiO2 thin films [J]. Nature Communications, 2020, 11(1): 6027.
[57] Sun H, Huo M, Hu X, et al. Signatures of superconductivity near 80 K in a nickelate under high pressure [J]. Nature, 2023, 621(7979): 493.
[58] Li Q, Zhang Y J, Xiang Z N, et al. Signature of superconductivity in pressurized La4Ni3O10[J]. Chinese Physics Letters, 2024(1): 017401.
[59] Cui T, Choi S, Lin T, et al. Strain-mediated phase crossover in Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates [J]. Communications Materials, 2024, 5(1): 32.
Options
Outlines

/

〈 〉