Electron-electron interaction and weak localization effects in badly metallic SrRuO3 -: art. no. 052403

We report on the effect of light ion irradiation on the low-temperature electrical resistivity of ferromagnetic SrRuO3 thin films. Fresh samples displayed a ferromagnetic transition at T-c similar to 160 K, good metallic behavior (rho (300 K) similar to 400 mu Omega cm, d rho /dT>0) at room temperature, and the low-temperature upturn in the electrical resistivity commonly found in SrRuO3. Badly metallic films, displaying high values of the electrical resistivity (O(1000 mu Omega cm)) and incipient nonmetallic behavior (d rho /dT<0) at low temperature, were obtained by He+ irradiation. For high enough irradiation doses, these samples did not show magnetic order down to the base temperature of our experiments. The temperature dependence of the electric:ll conductivity of virgin and irradiated samples is discussed in terms of a weak localization contribution plus a large electron-electron interaction term. The magnitude of the e(-)-e(-) contribution reflects the enhancement of strong electron correlations in SrRuO3 due to disorder.