We demonstrate that SrRuO3 and CaRuO3 thin films undergo a room temperature structural phase transition driven by the substrate imposed epitaxial biaxial strain. As tensile strain increases, ARuO3 (A=Ca, Sr) films transform from the orthorhombic phase which is usually observed in bulk SrRuO3 and CaRuO3 at room temperature, into a tetragonal phase which in bulk samples is only stable at higher temperatures. More importantly, we show that the observed phenomenon strongly affects the electronic and magnetic properties of ARuO3 thin films that are grown on different single crystal substrates which in turn offers the possibility to tune these properties.
Magnetic and transport properties of tetragonal- or cubic-Heusler-type Co-substituted Mn-Ga epitaxial thin films
研究了外延生长的Mn-Co-Ga薄膜的结构、磁性和输运性质与组分的关系。随着Co含量的增加，晶体结构从四方晶系变为立方晶系。在饱和磁化强度对Co含量的依赖性方面，对于Mn $_{2.3}$ Co $_{0.4}$ Ga $_{1.3}$膜，在9.2 Merg/cm $^3$的大{ \it K} $_\textrm u$值处获得相对小的值。Mn-Co-Ga薄膜的电阻率比纯Mn-Ga薄膜的电阻率大。对于Mn $_{2.2}$ Co $_{0.6}$ Ga $_{1.2}$膜，电阻率的最大值为490 $μΩ$ cm。Mn-Co-Ga的高电阻率可能是由于Co替代引起的化学无序在膜中存在局域电子态。
We experimentally investigated the magnetic properties of NiCo$_2$O$_4$ epitaxial films known to be conductive oxides with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) at room temperature. Both magneto-torque and magnetization measurements at various temperatures provide clear experimental evidence of the spin reorientation transition at which the MA changes from PMA to easy-cone magnetic anisotropy (ECMA) at a certain temperature ($T_{\rm{SR}}$). ECMA was commonly observed in films grown by pulsed laser deposition and reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering, although $T_{\mathrm{SR}}$ is dep…
The unconventional Si-compatible ferroelectricity in hafnia-based systems, which becomes robust only at nanoscopic sizes, has attracted a lot of interest. While a metastable polar orthorhombic (o-) phase (Pca21) is widely regarded as the responsible phase for ferroelectricity, a higher energy polar rhombohedral (r-) phase is recently reported on epitaxial HfZrO4 (HZO) films grown on (001) SrTiO3 (R3m or R3), (0001) GaN (R3), and Si (111). Armed with results on these systems, here we report a systematic study leading towards identifying comprehensive global trends for stabilizing r-phase polymo…
Epitaxial stabilization of pulsed laser deposited Sr$_{n+1}$Ir$_n$O$_{3n+1}$ thin films: entangled effect of growth dynamics and strain
Ir $^{4+}$层状氧化物中电子关联、晶场分裂和自旋-轨道耦合的微妙平衡可以产生新的电子和磁性相。这一领域的实验进展依赖于这些氧化物的外延膜的合成。然而，具有优异结构质量的层状虹彩晶体的生长是一个巨大的实验挑战。在这里，我们选择性地生长高质量的单相薄膜的Sr $_2$ IrO $_4$，Sr $_3$ Ir $_2$ O $_7$，和SrIrO $_3$在各种衬底上从一个单一的Sr $_3$ Ir $_2$ O $_7$目标通过调整背景氧压力和外延应变。我们证明了薄膜沉积过程中生长动力学和应变之间复杂的相互作用。这种相互作用导致在相同的生长条件下生长在不同衬底上的膜中的不同相的稳定，这不能用简单的动力学模型来解释。我们进一步研究了这三个阶段的热电性能，并提出，弱本地化是负责低温激活电阻率观察SrIrO $_3$压缩应变下。
Doped HfO2 and HfO2-ZrO2 compounds are gaining significant interest thanks to their ferroelectric properties in ultrathin films. Here, we show that ZrO2 could be a playground for doping and strain engineering to increase the thickness in epitaxial thin films. Based on surface energy considerations supported by ab initio calculations, we show that a pure ZrO2 epitaxial thin film exhibits a ferroelectric rhombohedral phase (r-phase, with R3m space group) more stable than for the Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) and pure HfO2 cases. In particular, for a thickness up to 37 nm we experimentally evidence a single…
Ferroelectric hafnia is being explored for next generation electronics due to its robust ferroelectricity in nanoscale samples and its compatibility with silicon. However, its ferroelectricity is not understood. Other ferroelectrics usually lose their ferroelectricity for nanoscopic samples and thin films, and the hafnia ground state is non-polar baddeleyite. Here we study hafnia with density functional theory (DFT) under epitaxial strain, and find that strain not only stabilizes the ferroelectric phases, but also leads to unstable modes and a downhill path in energy from the high temperature …
We report the epitaxial thin film synthesis of SrCu$_3$O$_4$ with infinitely stacked Cu$_3$O$_4$ layers composed of edge-sharing CuO$_4$ square-planes, using molecular beam epitaxy. Experimental and theoretical characterizations showed that this material is a metastable phase that can exist by applying tensile biaxial strain from the (001)-SrTiO$_3$ substrate. SrCu$_3$O$_4$ shows an insulating electrical resistivity in accordance with the Cu$^{2+}$ valence state revealed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. First-principles calculations also indicated that the unoccupied $d_{3z^2-r^2}$ band becom…
Hafnia (HfO$_2$)-based thin films have promising applications in nanoscale electronic devices due to their robust ferroelectricity and integration with silicon. However, HfO$_2$ has various stable and metastable polymorphs with quite similar structures and energies. Identifying and stabilizing the ferroelectric functional phases of HfO$_2$ have attracted intensive research interest in recent years. In this work, first-principles calculations on (111)-oriented HfO$_2$ are used to discover that imposing an in-plane shear strain on the tetragonal phase induces a nonpolar to polar phase transition…
Piezoelectrics interconvert mechanical energy and electric charge and are widely used in actuators and sensors. The best performing materials are ferroelectrics at a morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), where several phases can intimately coexist. Switching between these phases by electric field produces a large electromechanical response. In the ferroelectric BiFeO$_3$, strain can be used to create an MPB-like phase mixture and thus to generate large electric field dependent strains. However, this enhanced response occurs at localized, randomly positioned regions of the film, which potentially …
Thin films of perovskite Ruthenates of the general formula ARuO3 (A = Ca and Sr) are versatile electrical conductors for viable oxide electronics. They are also scientifically intriguing, as they exhibit non-trivial electromagnetic ground states depending on the A-site element. Among them, realization of the cubic perovskite (3C) BaRuO3 thin film has been a challenge so far, because the 3C phase is metastable with the largest formation energy among the various polymorph phases of BaRuO3. In this study, we successfully prepared 3C BaRuO3 thin films employing epitaxial stabilization. The 3C BaRu…
Computationally guided high-throughput synthesis is used to explore the Zn-V-N phase space, resulting in the synthesis of a novel ternary nitride Zn$_2$VN$_3$. Following a combinatorial PVD screening, we isolate the phase and synthesize polycrystalline Zn$_2$VN$_3$ thin films with wurtzite structure on conventional borosilicate glass substrates. In addition, we demonstrate that cation-disordered, but phase-pure (002)-textured, Zn$_2$VN$_3$ thin films can be grown using epitaxial stabilization on α-Al2O3 (0001) substrates at remarkably low growth temperatures well below 200 °C. The structural p…
Increased magnetocrystalline anisotropy in epitaxial Fe-Co-C thin films with spontaneous strain
无稀土合金是永磁体研究的焦点，因为当今常规磁体所需的元素的可及性有限。四方应变铁钴（Fe-Co）由于理论计算而作为有希望的候选者引起了人们的极大兴趣。然而，在实验中，所施加的应变随着膜厚度的增加而迅速松弛，并且阻碍了强磁晶各向异性的稳定。在我们的研究中，我们表明，已经2原子%的碳大大减少晶格弛豫，导致形成自发应变相与3%的tetraorbic失真。在这些应变（Fe $_{0.4}$ Co $_{0.6}$）$_{0.98}$ C $_{0.02}$薄膜中，观察到大于0.4 MJ/m $^3$的磁晶各向异性，同时保持2.1 T的大极化。与二元Fe-Co相比，这是内禀磁性的显著改善。在本文中，我们将我们的实验工作与应变Fe-Co-C的理论研究联系起来，并发现非常一致。
Strain-Tunable Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy in Epitaxial Y3Fe5O12 Thin Films
我们证明了在晶格失配的Y3 Al 5 O 12衬底上生长的具有优良结晶质量的外延Y3 Fe 5 O 12薄膜中，磁晶各向异性的应变调谐范围超过一千高斯。铁磁共振（FMR）测量结果显示，Y3 Fe 5 O 12的应变引起的四元畸变的面外和面内单轴各向异性的线性依赖。重要的是，我们发现由逆自旋霍尔效应和FMR线宽展宽确定的自旋混合电导G_r仍然很大：Pt/Y3 Fe 5 O 12/Y3 Al 5 O 12异质结构中的G_r = 3.33 x 10^14 Ohm^-1 m ^-2，与在晶格匹配的Gd 3Ga 5 O 12衬底上生长的Pt/Y3 Fe 5 O 12中发现的值相当。
We report on the effect of epitaxial strain on magnetic and optical properties of perovskite LaCrO3 (LCO) single crystal thin films. Epitaxial LCO thin films are grown by pulsed laser deposition on proper choice of substrates to impose different strain states. A combined experimental and theoretical approach is used to demonstrate the direct correlation between lattice-strain and functional properties. The magnetization results show that the lattice anisotropy plays a critical role in controlling the magnetic behavior of LCO films. The strain induced tetragonality in the film lattice strongly …
Epitaxial growth of multiferroic Pb(Zr0.57Ti0.43)O3-Pb(Fe2/3W1/3)O3 solid-solution thin films and their magnetoelectric effects
本文报道了用脉冲激光沉积法外延生长单相[Pb（Zr 0.57 Ti 0.43）O3]0.8[Pb（Fe 2/3 W 1/3）O3]0.2（PZT-PFW）固溶体薄膜。X射线衍射测试表明薄膜具有四方晶系结构。该薄膜在室温下表现出铁电性和弱铁磁响应。磁电效应进行了研究，非线性磁电系数进行了测量，发现是可比的多铁性六方锰氧化物，但至少两个数量级小于多晶PZT-PFW薄膜。
Rare-earth orthoferrite RFeO3 materials such as NdFeO3 are strongly studied because of their fascinating magnetic properties and their potential applications. Here, we show the successful epitaxial synthesis of parasitic-free NFO thin film by pulsed laser deposition on (001)-SrTiO3. High-resolution X-ray diffraction shows a coherent growth and a tetragonal-like structure of a tensile strained 80 nm thick NFO film in contrast with the bulk orthorhombic state. Room temperature magnetometry indicates a bulk-like antiferromagnetic state for the NFO film. Temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction and…
Stabilization of an ambient pressure, collapsed tetragonal phase in CaFe2As2 and tuning of the orthorhombic / antiferromagnetic transition temperature by over 70 K by control of nano-precipitates
