Dynamic interface rearrangement in heterojunctions
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate; Auburn Univ., AL (United States). Dept. of Physics
Thin-film synthesis methods that have developed over the past decades have unlocked emergent interface properties ranging from conductivity to ferroelectricity. However, our attempts to exercise precise control over interfaces are constrained by a limited understanding of growth pathways and kinetics. In this paper, we demonstrate that shuttered molecular beam epitaxy induces rearrangements of atomic planes at a polar/nonpolar junction of LaFeO3 (LFO)/n-SrTiO3 (STO) depending on the substrate termination. Surface characterization confirms that substrates with two different (TiO2 and SrO) terminations were prepared prior to LFO deposition; however, local electron-energy-loss spectroscopy measurements of the final heterojunctions show a predominantly LaO/TiO2 interfacial junction in both cases. Ab initio simulations suggest that the interfaces can be stabilized by trapping extra oxygen (in LaO/TiO2) and forming oxygen vacancies (in FeO2/SrO), which points to different growth kinetics in each case and may explain the apparent disappearance of the FeO2/SrO interface. Finally, we conclude that judicious control of deposition time scales can be used to modify growth pathways, opening new avenues to control the structure and properties of interfacial systems.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); PNNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830; PN13100/2581
- OSTI ID:
- 1430717
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1407448
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-127972; TRN: US1802758
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Materials, Vol. 1, Issue 6; ISSN 2475-9953
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Electronic Structure and Band Alignment of LaMnO 3 /SrTiO 3 Polar/Nonpolar Heterojunctions
|
journal | November 2018 |
Interface-based tuning of Rashba spin-orbit interaction in asymmetric oxide heterostructures with 3d electrons
|
journal | July 2019 |
Atomic-scale mapping of interface reconstructions in multiferroic heterostructures
|
journal | December 2018 |
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