Electronic Structure of Epitaxial Films of the Bilayer Strontium Ruthenate: Sr$_{3}$Ru$_2$O$_{7}$

Abstract

We report a combined study of the low-energy electronic band structure of epitaxial Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ films using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and density functional theory (DFT). To investigate the effects of substrate dependence on the band structure, Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ thin films are epitaxially grown on SrTiO$_3$ (STO) and (LaAlO$_{3}$)$_{0.3}$(Sr$_{2}$TaAlO$_{6}$)$_{0.7}$ (LSAT) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. The measured and calculated Fermi-surfaces clearly show substantial changes in the Fermi surface topologies that originate from the underlying strain states. The compressively strained film grown on LSAT exhibits Fermi-surface features consistent with an orthorhombic-like symmetry; and the tensile-strained film grown on STO features a tetragonal-like surface symmetry. In addition, the ARPES data for both films indicate weakly dispersive spectral features within $\sim15~\text{meV}$ below the Fermi level. These observations underscore the strong sensitivity of the electronic structure of Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ to epitaxial strain and establish a foundation for future efforts to tune correlated phases in this bilayer ruthenate.