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Title: Structural refinement of Pbnm-type perovskite films from analysis of half-order diffraction peaks

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4974362· OSTI ID:1465322
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [2]
  1. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
  2. Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

Engineering structural modifications of epitaxial perovskite thin films is an effective route to induce new functionalities or enhance existing properties due to the close relation of the electronic ground state to the local bonding environment. As such, there is a necessity to systematically refine and precisely quantify these structural displacements, particularly those of the oxygen octahedra, which is a challenge due to the weak scattering factor of oxygen and the small diffraction volume of thin films. In this paper, we present an optimized algorithm to refine the octahedral rotation angles using specific unit-cell-doubling half-order diffraction peaks for the a-a-c+ Pbnm structure. The oxygen and A-site positions can be obtained by minimizing the squared-error between calculated and experimentally determined peak intensities using the (1/2 1/2 3/2) and (1/2 1/2 5/2) reflections to determine the rotation angle α about in-plane axes and the (1/2 5/2 1), (1/2 3/2 1), and (1/2 3/2 2) reflections to determine the rotation angle γ about the out-of-plane axis, whereas the convoluting A-site displacements associated with the octahedral rotation pattern can be determined using (1 1 1/2) and (1/2 1/2 1/2) reflections to independently determine A-site positions. The validity of the approach is confirmed by applying the refinement procedure to determine the A-site and oxygen displacements in a NdGaO3 single crystal. Finally, the ability to refine both the oxygen and A-site displacements relative to the undistorted perovskite structure enables a deeper understanding of how structural modifications alter functionality properties in epitaxial films exhibiting this commonly occurring crystal structure.

Research Organization:
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012375; AC02-06CH11357; DMR-1151649
OSTI ID:
1465322
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1361745
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 121, Issue 4; ISSN 0021-8979
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 24 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (9)

Binary Controls on Interfacial Magnetism in Manganite Heterostructures journal June 2018
Designing Optimal Perovskite Structure for High Ionic Conduction journal November 2019
Interfacial Octahedral Manipulation Imparts Hysteresis‐Free Metal to Insulator Transition in Ultrathin Nickelate Heterostructure journal July 2019
Giant magnetic response of a two-dimensional antiferromagnet journal June 2018
Magnetism in iridate heterostructures leveraged by structural distortions journal March 2019
Structural characterization of the LaInO 3 /BaSnO 3 interface via synchrotron scattering journal March 2019
Precession electron diffraction tomography on twinned crystals: application to CaTiO 3 thin films journal May 2019
Thickness-Dependent Perovskite Octahedral Distortions at Heterointerfaces journal May 2019
Coupling lattice instabilities across the interface in ultrathin oxide heterostructures text January 2020