Kalia, Shivank Ranade, Varun Chae, Keun Hwa Choudhary, Ram Janay Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Ravi 2026-05-11T02:00:10Z 2026-05-11T02:00:10Z 2026-05-07 2026-04 2050-7526 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/154691 We investigate the systematic evolution of the electronic structure in epitaxially strained RVO3 (R = La, Pr, Y) thin films grown on LaAlO3 substrates, focusing on how materials modification (R-site cation substitution) combined with strain engineering controls the correlated electronic phase. Using synchrotron-based resonant photoemission (RPES) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), we achieve bandwidth tuning by varying the R-site cation, which systematically modifies the GdFeO3-type octahedral distortions under consistent compressive strain. The RPES study reveals a shift of the incoherent V 3d feature from 1.3 eV (La) to 1.6 eV (Y), indicating increased electron localization. The combined electronic structure analysis establishes that the on-site Coulomb interaction (U) remains smaller than the charge transfer energy (Delta) across the RVO3 series, confirming a Mott-Hubbard insulating ground state-a distinct behavior from its bulk counterpart. Although the strength of the correlation (U/W) in LaVO3 to YVO3 rises slightly (2.07 to 2.43), the bandwidth and crystal-field splitting have no monotonic trend, and the crystal-field energy of PrVO3 is higher (about 2.4 eV). This anomalous behavior is driven by the competitive interplay between chemical pressure and epitaxial strain. These findings establish a quantitative design rule for tuning the Mott-Hubbard electronic ground state in vanadate heterostructures, offering a pathway to engineer the electronic properties of strongly correlated oxides for functional device applications. English Royal Society of Chemistry Spectroscopic investigation of bandwidth control effects on the Mott–Hubbard state in epitaxial RVO3 (R = La, Pr, Y) thin films Article 10.1039/d5tc04517g 1 Journal of Materials Chemistry C Journal of Materials Chemistry C N scie scopus 2-s2.0-105036226084 Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Physics, Applied Materials Science Physics Article; Early Access ELECTRONIC-STRUCTURE METAL TRANSITION ENERGY GAPS