Role of the interface on radiation damage in the SrTiO3/LaAlO3 heterostructure under Ne2+ ion irradiation

Bi, Zhenxing; Uberuaga, Blas P.; Vernon, L. J.; Aguiar, Jeffery A.; Fu, Engang; Zheng, Shijian; Zhang, Shixiong; Wang, Yongqiang; Misra, Amit; Jia, Quanxi

doi:10.1063/1.4870052

Role of the interface on radiation damage in the SrTiO₃/LaAlO₃ heterostructure under Ne²⁺ ion irradiation

Journal Article · Fri Mar 28 04:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4870052· OSTI ID:1383572

Bi, Zhenxing ^[1]; Uberuaga, Blas P. ^[1]; Vernon, L. J. ^[1]; Aguiar, Jeffery A. ^[1]; Fu, Engang ^[1]; Zheng, Shijian ^[1]; Zhang, Shixiong ^[1]; Wang, Yongqiang ^[1]; Misra, Amit ^[1]; Jia, Quanxi ^[1]

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

We systematically investigated the microstructural evolution of heteroepitaxial SrTiO₃ (STO) thin films grown on a single crystal LaAlO₃ (LAO) (001) substrate, focusing on the response of the STO/LAO interface to Ne²⁺ irradiation at room temperature. Cross sectional transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis reveals that the LAO crystal amorphizes first after a relatively low dose of damage followed by the amorphization of the STO film after irradiation to a higher dose. While the critical dose to amorphize differs between each material, amorphization begins at the interface and proceeds outward in both cases. Thus, a crystalline/amorphous interface first forms at the STO/LAO interface by a dose of 1 dpa, and then an amorphous/amorphous interface forms when the dose reaches 3 dpa. Scanning TEM and x-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy indicate no significant heavy cation elemental diffusion, though electron energy loss spectroscopy reveals a redistribution of oxygen across the film/substrate interface after Ne²⁺ irradiation. Atomistic calculations are used to interpret the experimental findings in terms of the defect properties in each of the two component phases.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Materials at Irradiation and Mechanical Extremes (CMIME)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1383572

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 22271116
OSTI ID: 1149776
OSTI ID: 1161415

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 115; ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Orientation-specific amorphization and intercalated recrystallization at ion-irradiated SrTiO ₃ /MgO interfaces Aguiar, Jeffery A.; Zhuo, Mujin; Bi, Zhenxing Journal of Materials Research, Vol. 29, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2014.217	journal	August 2014

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Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
defects
mechanical behavior
materials and chemistry by design
nuclear (including radiation effects)
synthesis (novel materials)
synthesis (scalable processing)