Origin of superstructures in (double) perovskite thin films

Journal Article · Sun Sep 21 04:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4895636· OSTI ID:22306231

Major, M.; Komissinskiy, P.; Vafaee, M.; Radetinac, A.; Baghaie Yazdi, M.; Donner, W.

We have investigated the origin of superstructure peaks as observed by X-ray diffraction of multiferroic Bi(Fe{sub 0.5}Cr{sub 0.5})O{sub 3} thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition on single crystal SrTiO{sub 3} substrates. The photon energy dependence of the contrast between the atomic scattering factors of Fe and Cr is used to rule out a chemically ordered double perovskite Bi{sub 2}FeCrO{sub 6} (BFCO). Structural calculations suggest that the experimentally observed superstructure occurs due to unequal cation displacements along the pseudo-cubic [111] direction that mimic the unit cell of the chemically ordered compound. This result helps to clarify discrepancies in the correlations of structural and magnetic order reported for Bi{sub 2}FeCrO{sub 6}. The observation of a superstructure in itself is not a sufficient proof of chemical order in double perovskites.

• OSTI ID: 22306231
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 116; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
BISMUTH COMPOUNDS
CATIONS
CHROMIUM COMPOUNDS
CORRELATIONS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
ENERGY BEAM DEPOSITION
ENERGY DEPENDENCE
IRON COMPOUNDS
LASER RADIATION
MONOCRYSTALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PEROVSKITE
PHOTONS
PULSED IRRADIATION
STRONTIUM TITANATES
SUBSTRATES
THIN FILMS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION