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Title: Time- and strain-dependent nanoscale structural degradation in phase change epitaxial strontium ferrite films

Abstract

Topotactic phase transition between metallic, perovskite SrFeO3 and insulating, Brownmillerite SrFeO2.5 has been extensively studied due to the potential applications in resistive switching devices for neuromorphic computing. However, its practical utilization as memristors has been hindered by the structural instability of SrFeO3, which is often ascribed to the generation of oxygen vacancies to form SrFeO3-δ. Here we reveal the dominating defects generated in SrFeO3 epitaxial thin films are atomic scale gaps as a result of interfacial strain. Our correlated time- and strain-dependent measurements show that tensile strained SrFeO3 films form vertical, nanoscale gaps that are SrO-rich, which are accountable for the observed metal-to-insulator transition over time. While compressively strained or small lattice mismatched SrFeO3 films mainly yield horizontal gaps with a smaller impact on the in-plane transport. The atomic scale origin of such defects and their impact on device performance need to be further understood in order to integrate phase change materials in oxide electronics.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
  3. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1645108
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1775390
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-151481
Journal ID: ISSN 2397-2106
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830; 68278; AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
npj Materials Degradation
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2397-2106
Publisher:
Springer
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Chemistry; electronic devices

Citation Formats

Wang, Le, Yang, Zhenzhong, Wu, Jinpeng, Bowden, Mark E., Yang, Wanli, Qiao, Amy, and Du, Yingge. Time- and strain-dependent nanoscale structural degradation in phase change epitaxial strontium ferrite films. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1038/s41529-020-0120-3.
Wang, Le, Yang, Zhenzhong, Wu, Jinpeng, Bowden, Mark E., Yang, Wanli, Qiao, Amy, & Du, Yingge. Time- and strain-dependent nanoscale structural degradation in phase change epitaxial strontium ferrite films. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-020-0120-3
Wang, Le, Yang, Zhenzhong, Wu, Jinpeng, Bowden, Mark E., Yang, Wanli, Qiao, Amy, and Du, Yingge. Thu . "Time- and strain-dependent nanoscale structural degradation in phase change epitaxial strontium ferrite films". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-020-0120-3. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1645108.
@article{osti_1645108,
title = {Time- and strain-dependent nanoscale structural degradation in phase change epitaxial strontium ferrite films},
author = {Wang, Le and Yang, Zhenzhong and Wu, Jinpeng and Bowden, Mark E. and Yang, Wanli and Qiao, Amy and Du, Yingge},
abstractNote = {Topotactic phase transition between metallic, perovskite SrFeO3 and insulating, Brownmillerite SrFeO2.5 has been extensively studied due to the potential applications in resistive switching devices for neuromorphic computing. However, its practical utilization as memristors has been hindered by the structural instability of SrFeO3, which is often ascribed to the generation of oxygen vacancies to form SrFeO3-δ. Here we reveal the dominating defects generated in SrFeO3 epitaxial thin films are atomic scale gaps as a result of interfacial strain. Our correlated time- and strain-dependent measurements show that tensile strained SrFeO3 films form vertical, nanoscale gaps that are SrO-rich, which are accountable for the observed metal-to-insulator transition over time. While compressively strained or small lattice mismatched SrFeO3 films mainly yield horizontal gaps with a smaller impact on the in-plane transport. The atomic scale origin of such defects and their impact on device performance need to be further understood in order to integrate phase change materials in oxide electronics.},
doi = {10.1038/s41529-020-0120-3},
journal = {npj Materials Degradation},
number = 1,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}

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