Influence of plastic deformation on the transport and magnetic properties of strontium titanate*

Strontium titanate (SrTiO₃, STO) is one of the most important transition metal oxides: it is a model perovskite with a structural phase transition, and also one of the most commonly used single crystal substrates for epitaxial growth of oxide thin films. Superconductivity in STO occurs at unusually low carrier densities at temperatures well below 1 K and is not understood, even five decades after its discovery. Building on our recent work on oxide superconductors [1], we explore another interesting property of STO: its high ductility at room temperature, which allows us to plastically deform single crystals using uniaxial pressure. We report on the influence of this compressive plastic deformation on the transport and magnetic properties of STO, with particular emphasis on the superconducting state.

[1] D. Pelc et al., Nat. Commun. 10, 2729 (2019)