Designing antiphase boundaries by atomic control of heterointerfaces

Journal Article · 12 August 2018 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1808812115 · OSTI ID:1464332

Wang, Zhen ^[1]; Guo, Hangwen ^[2]; Shao, Shuai ^[3]; Saghayezhian, Mohammad ^[2]; Li, Jun ^[4]; Fittipaldi, Rosalba ^[5]; Vecchione, Antonio ^[5]; Siwakoti, Prahald ^[2]; Zhu, Yimei ^[4]; Zhang, Jiandi ^[2]; Plummer, E. W. ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics &, Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803,, Condensed Matter Physics &, Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973,
2. Department of Physics &, Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803,
3. Department of Mechanical &, Industrial Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803,
4. Condensed Matter Physics &, Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973,
5. Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche-Superconducting and Other Innovative Materials and Devices Institute (SPIN), Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Salerno, 132 - 84084 Fisciano, Italy

Significance The mechancial and transport properties of every material are intimately coupled to the generation and formation of defects. In many systems, the nucleation process of defects is highly unpredictable due to the multiple coexisting nucleation mechanisms. A strategy to design and manipulate defect nucleation and formation can improve our understanding and in principle lead to the ability to control performance. Here we present a simple approach of designing 2D defects—named antiphase boundaries—using an atomic-controlled high-quality interface. These defects have a well-defined origin, location, and nucleation mechanism. Via advanced synthesis technology, atomically resolved electron microscopy, and theory, we reveal that these defects display distinctive properties such as physical merging and antipolar structural phases to potentially achieve memory devices.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-98CH10886; SC0002136; SC0012704
• OSTI ID: 1464332
• Report Number(s): BNL--209361-2018-JAAM
• 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 Journal Issue: 38 Vol. 115; ISSN 0027-8424
• Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English