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Title: Surface and interface properties of L a 2 / 3 S r 1 / 3 Mn O 3 thin films on SrTiO 3 (001)

Abstract

Understanding and manipulating properties emerging at a surface or an interface require a thorough knowledge of structure-property relationships. We report a study of a prototype oxide system, La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 grown on SrTiO3(001), by combining in situ angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ex situ x-ray diffraction, and scanning transmission electron microscopy/spectroscopy with electric transport measurements. We find that La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 films thicker than 20 unit cells (u.c.) exhibit a universal behavior with no more than one u.c. intermixing at the interface but at least 3 u.c. of Sr segregation near the surface, which is (La/Sr)O terminated. The conductivity vs film thickness shows the existence of nonmetallic layers with thickness ~6.5±0.9u.c., which is independent of film thickness but mainly relates to the deviation of Sr concentration near the surface region. Below 20 u.c., the surface of the films appears mixed, (La/Sr)O with MnO2 termination. Decreasing film thickness to less than 10 u.c. leads to the enhanced deviation of chemical composition in the films and eventually drives the film insulating. Finally, our observation offers a natural explanation for the thickness-driven metal-nonmetal transition in thin films based on the variation of film stoichiometry.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [5]; ORCiD logo [6];  [3];  [3]
  1. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Nanjing Univ., Nanjing (People's Republic of China)
  2. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  3. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States)
  4. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Fudan Univ., Shanghai (People's Republic of China)
  5. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Univ. of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui (People's Republic of China)
  6. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1529072
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1508190
Report Number(s):
BNL-211778-2019-JAAM
Journal ID: ISSN 2475-9953; PRMHAR
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0012704; SC0002136; AC02-98CH10886
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review Materials
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 3; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2475-9953
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY

Citation Formats

Chen, Lina, Wang, Zhen, Wang, Gaomin, Guo, Hangwen, Saghayezhian, Mohammad, Liao, Zhaoliang, Zhu, Yimei, Plummer, E. W., and Zhang, Jiandi. Surface and interface properties of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 thin films on SrTiO3 (001). United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.044407.
Chen, Lina, Wang, Zhen, Wang, Gaomin, Guo, Hangwen, Saghayezhian, Mohammad, Liao, Zhaoliang, Zhu, Yimei, Plummer, E. W., & Zhang, Jiandi. Surface and interface properties of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 thin films on SrTiO3 (001). United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.044407
Chen, Lina, Wang, Zhen, Wang, Gaomin, Guo, Hangwen, Saghayezhian, Mohammad, Liao, Zhaoliang, Zhu, Yimei, Plummer, E. W., and Zhang, Jiandi. Mon . "Surface and interface properties of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 thin films on SrTiO3 (001)". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.044407. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1529072.
@article{osti_1529072,
title = {Surface and interface properties of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 thin films on SrTiO3 (001)},
author = {Chen, Lina and Wang, Zhen and Wang, Gaomin and Guo, Hangwen and Saghayezhian, Mohammad and Liao, Zhaoliang and Zhu, Yimei and Plummer, E. W. and Zhang, Jiandi},
abstractNote = {Understanding and manipulating properties emerging at a surface or an interface require a thorough knowledge of structure-property relationships. We report a study of a prototype oxide system, La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 grown on SrTiO3(001), by combining in situ angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ex situ x-ray diffraction, and scanning transmission electron microscopy/spectroscopy with electric transport measurements. We find that La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 films thicker than 20 unit cells (u.c.) exhibit a universal behavior with no more than one u.c. intermixing at the interface but at least 3 u.c. of Sr segregation near the surface, which is (La/Sr)O terminated. The conductivity vs film thickness shows the existence of nonmetallic layers with thickness ~6.5±0.9u.c., which is independent of film thickness but mainly relates to the deviation of Sr concentration near the surface region. Below 20 u.c., the surface of the films appears mixed, (La/Sr)O with MnO2 termination. Decreasing film thickness to less than 10 u.c. leads to the enhanced deviation of chemical composition in the films and eventually drives the film insulating. Finally, our observation offers a natural explanation for the thickness-driven metal-nonmetal transition in thin films based on the variation of film stoichiometry.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.044407},
journal = {Physical Review Materials},
number = 4,
volume = 3,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Apr 22 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Mon Apr 22 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}

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