Real-space imaging of periodic nanotextures in thin films via phasing of diffraction data

Shao, Ziming; Schnitzer, Noah; Ruf, Jacob; Gorobtsov, Oleg Yu.; Dai, Cheng; Goodge, Berit H.; Yang, Tiannan; Nair, Hari; Stoica, Vlad A.; Freeland, John W.; Ruff, Jacob P.; Chen, Long-Qing; Schlom, Darrell G.; Shen, Kyle M.; Kourkoutis, Lena F.; Singer, Andrej

doi:10.1073/pnas.2303312120

Title: Real-space imaging of periodic nanotextures in thin films via phasing of diffraction data

Journal Article · Thu Jul 06 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2303312120· OSTI ID:1988331

Shao, Ziming ^[1]; Schnitzer, Noah ^[1];

^[2]; Gorobtsov, Oleg Yu. ^[1]; Dai, Cheng ^[3];

^[4]; Yang, Tiannan ^[3]; Nair, Hari ^[1]; Stoica, Vlad A. ^[5]; Freeland, John W. ^[6]; Ruff, Jacob P. ^[7]; Chen, Long-Qing ^[3];

^[8]; Shen, Kyle M. ^[9];

^[4];

^[1]

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439
Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439
Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung, Berlin 12489, Germany
Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853

New properties and exotic quantum phenomena can form due to periodic nanotextures, including Moire patterns, ferroic domains, and topologically protected magnetization and polarization textures. Despite the availability of powerful tools to characterize the atomic crystal structure, the visualization of nanoscale strain-modulated structural motifs remains challenging. Here, we develop nondestructive real-space imaging of periodic lattice distortions in thin epitaxial films and report an emergent periodic nanotexture in a Mott insulator. Specifically, we combine iterative phase retrieval with unsupervised machine learning to invert the diffuse scattering pattern from conventional X-ray reciprocal-space maps into real-space images of crystalline displacements. Our imaging in PbTiO ₃ /SrTiO ₃ superlattices exhibiting checkerboard strain modulation substantiates published phase-field model calculations. Furthermore, the imaging of biaxially strained Mott insulator Ca ₂ RuO ₄ reveals a strain-induced nanotexture comprised of nanometer-thin metallic-structure wires separated by nanometer-thin Mott-insulating-structure walls, as confirmed by cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy (cryo-STEM). The nanotexture in Ca ₂ RuO ₄ film is induced by the metal-to-insulator transition and has not been reported in bulk crystals. We expect the phasing of diffuse X-ray scattering from thin crystalline films in combination with cryo-STEM to open a powerful avenue for discovering, visualizing, and quantifying the periodic strain-modulated structures in quantum materials.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0019414; AC02-06CH11357; SC0020145; SC-0012375

OSTI ID:: 1988331

Journal Information:: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Vol. 120 Journal Issue: 28; ISSN 0027-8424

Publisher:: Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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