Investigation of the crossover properties for the interaction parameters of a ferroelectric thin film

The crossover feature, from the ferroelectric-dominant phase diagram (FPD) to the paraelectric-dominant phase diagram (PPD), for the interaction parameters of a ferroelectric thin film described by the transverse Ising model have been calculated in detail by the use of the mean-field approximation. The crossover values of the exchange interactions and the transverse fields for a thin film with certain layers are displayed as a curved surface in the three-dimensional parameter space. The numerical results show that for thin films with different numbers of layers there exists a common intersection line for the curved surfaces of the crossover values. Meanwhile the layer-independent equation for the intersection line is obtained for the first time.     

参数修改对铁电薄膜相变性质的影响

在关联有效场理论的框架内, 利用微分算子技术, 详细地计算了基于横场伊辛模型描述的对称铁电薄膜系统的相变性质. 根据薄膜各层自旋平均值构成的一系列耦合方程, 推导出可以用来计算任意层的具有不同表面层的薄膜相图的解析通式方程, 讨论了参数修改对薄膜相互作用参数从FPD (铁电相占主导地位的相图)到PPD (顺电相占主导地位的相图)过渡值和参数空间中各相变区域的影响. 在与平均场近似进行比较的结果显示, 关联有效场理论所得到的铁电薄膜的铁电性在某种程度上比平均场近似下的结果减弱. 关键词： 铁电薄膜 横场伊辛模型 相图 居里温度     

Phase transition properties of ferroelectric thin films with two surface layers

The phase diagrams of ferroelectric thin films with two surface layers described by the transverse Ising model have been studied under the mean-field approximation. We discuss the effects of the exchange interaction and transverse field parameters on the phase diagrams. The results indicate that the phase transition properties of the phase diagrams can be greatly modified by changing the transverse Ising model parameters. In addition, the crossover features of the parameters from the ferroelectric dominant phase diagram to the paraelectric dominant phase diagram are determined for ferroelectric thin films with two surface layers.     

Study of Phase Transition Properties in Epitaxial Ferroelectric Film

Based on the transverse Ising model and using decoupling approximation to the Fermi-type Green's function, we study the phase transition properties of the epitaxial ferroelectric film with one substrate. A general recursive equation of the ferroelectric thin film with two n-layer materials is obtained, which enables us to study the phase transition properties for any number layers forepitaxial ferroelectric thin film. With the help of this equation, we analyze the effect of the exchange interaction and the transverse field in the phase diagram, the influence to the polarizations and Curie temperature numerically. The results show that epitaxial ferroelectric film are able to induce a strong increase or decrease of Curie temperature to different exchange interactions and transverse fields within the epitaxial film layers. The theoreticalresults are in reasonable accordance with experimental data of different ferroelectric thin film.     

Investigation of the seeding-layer effect for a ferroelectric thin film with the transverse Ising model

The transition feature of a ferroelectric thin film with a seeding layer is studied based on the transverse Ising model. The influence of the seeding layer on the transition behavior of a ferroelectric thin film is investigated systemically, and the effect of the interaction parameters for the seeding layer on the phase diagram is also obtained. Meanwhile, the polarization and Curie temperature of the ferroelectric thin film are calculated for different seeding-layer structures. The results show that the polarization and Curie temperature of the film will be obviously modified on adding a seeding layer.     

Magnetic phase diagram of the frustrated two-layer system ferromagnet-antiferromagnet

The thickness-roughness phase diagram of a thin ferromagnetic film on an antiferromagnetic substrate is studied in the case where the roughness of the interface between the layers causes frustration of the exchange interaction between them. It is shown that the account of single-ion anisotropy makes the phase diagram significantly more complicated in comparison with that calculated within the exchange approximation. The evolution of a new type of domain walls caused by frustrations is traced with an increase in the film thickness and the width of the atomic steps on the film-substrate interface.     

Magnetic phase diagram of a ferromagnet-antiferromagnet bilayer with a rough interface

The thickness-roughness phase diagram of a thin ferromagnetic film on an antiferromagnetic substrate is studied in the case where the roughness of the interface between the layers causes frustration of the exchange interaction between them. It is shown that the inclusion of single-ion anisotropy makes the phase diagram significantly more complicated in comparison with that calculated within the exchange approximation. The evolution of a new type of domain walls caused by frustrations is traced with an increase in the film thickness and the width of the atomic steps on the film-substrate interface.     

Thin film dynamics in coating problems using Onsager principle

A new variational method is proposed to investigate the dynamics of the thin film in a coating flow where a liquid is delivered through a fixed slot gap onto a moving substrate. A simplified ODE system has also been derived for the evolution of the thin film whose thickness h_f is asymptotically constant behind the coating front. We calculate the phase diagram as well as the film profiles and approximate the film thickness theoretically, and agreement with the well-known scaling law as Ca~(2/3) is found.     

Phenomenological description of phase transitions in thin BaTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> films

Phase transitions in thin epitaxial films of BaTiO₃ are described phenomenologically in terms of Landau potentials with sixth-and eighth-order terms. It is established that the phase diagram depends on the electrostrictive constant Q ₁₂. The phase diagrams calculated for different values of Q ₁₂ available in the literature differ qualitatively. The dependence of the misfit strain of a film on the film tetragonality at room temperature is found, which makes it possible to determine the thermodynamic path in the phase diagram for a specific film. The dependences of the spontaneous polarization and dielectric constant of a film on the misfit strain at room temperature are constructed.     

Simulation of the delamination of thin films

We simulate thin film delamination using a lattice springs model. We use this model to construct a phase diagram of different delamination behaviours, produced by varying the compression of the film and also the radius to which local relaxation is allowed to take place about failing bonds. From this we see a progression from laminar and linear behaviours to radial and rounded features as compressive stress is increased. Sinusoidal telephone cord behaviour occurs only at a small range of fairly low stresses, and thin films.     

外加电场对铁电薄膜相变的影响

采用热力学非线性理论,研究了外加电场对立方基底Pb(Zr_0.3Ti_0.7)O₃(PZT)铁电薄膜相变的影响.通过数值计算,得到了"失配应变-外加电场"相图,及外加电场与极化强度的关系.当外加电场达到186 kV/cm时,能使生长在SrTiO₃ 基底上PZT铁电薄膜从单斜r相转变为c相.在实验上,采用扫描探针显微镜通过对PZT薄膜施加不同的极化电场来研究了它的电畴翻转.从得到的压电响应相图可以看出,绝大多数的电畴是清晰可 关键词： 铁电薄膜 相变 扫描探针显微镜 失配应变     

Phase diagram of a thin ferromagnetic film on the surface of an antiferromagnet

Magnetic characteristics of a thin ferromagnetic film on the surface of an antiferromagnet are examined. Due to the roughness of the film-substrate interface, the system is frustrated, giving rise to domain walls of new type. The distributions of the order parameters in the domain walls are studied by mathematical modeling, and the phase diagram is obtained.     

Characterization of the “native” surface thin film on pure polycrystalline iron: A high resolution XPS and TEM study

The characterization of the “native” surface thin film on pure polycrystalline iron has been studied by high resolution X-ray photoelectron (XP) spectroscopy of Fe 2p and O 1s regions. The film was allowed to form by exposing the sample to atmosphere at ambient conditions for a period of 1 h. The systematic approach used here includes the determination of curve fitting parameters from external standards and their use in fitting the raw data for the surface thin film. The quantitative high resolution XPS analysis involved an angle resolved study of the surface to determine the chemical composition and thickness of this native film. The film was found to be a mixture of Fe₃O₄ and Fe(OH)₂ with a thickness of 1.2 ± 0.3 nm. This conclusion is consistent with thermodynamics as indicated by the Pourbaix diagram for the Fe-H₂O system and the phase diagram for the Fe-oxygen system. A detailed TEM study of the native surface film also supports this conclusion.     

Binary separation in very thin nematic films: thickness and phase coexistence

The behavior as a function of temperature of very thin films (10 to 200 nm) of pentylcyanobiphenyl on silicon substrates is reported. In the vicinity of the nematic-isotropic transition we observe a coexistence of two regions of different thicknesses: thick regions are in the nematic state while thin ones are in the isotropic state. Moreover, the transition temperature is shifted downward following a 1/h(2) law ( h is the film thickness). Microscope observations and small-angle x-ray scattering allowed us to draw a phase diagram which is explained in terms of a binary first-order phase transition where thickness plays the role of an order parameter.     

Phase behaviour of <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-hexane/perfluoro-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-hexane binary thin wetting films

We present X-ray reflectivity investigations of the concentration distribution in binary liquid thin films on silicon substrates. The liquid-vapor coexistence of the binary mixture investigated, hexane and perfluorohexane, is far from criticality. Therefore, a sharp interface separates the liquid film from the vapor. The data reveal a separation of the film in layers parallel to the substrate. A phase diagram is constructed as a projection to the (composition difference, temperature) space, covering a temperature range corresponding to the one-phase and the two-phase regime of the bulk liquid. Although the composition data indicate a mixing gap similar to that of the bulk system, there are two major differences: i) only the near-surface phase changes its composition significantly, and ii) a composition gradient in the film exists also at higher temperatures where in the bulk system the one-phase regime exists.Received: 28 April 2004, Published online: 21 September 2004PACS: 61.10.Kw X-ray reflectometry (surfaces, interfaces, films) - 64.75. + g Solubility, segregation, and mixing; phase separation - 68.15. + e Liquid thin films     

The film compounds in planar PtSi reaction

All the compounds predicted by SiPt phase diagram have been observed by depositing thin layers of Pt on Si in known quantities and ratios to each other by using an unreactive substrate. Emphasis is given to Pt6Si5 and Pt12Si5 formation. They are two new binary compounds which we have experimentally identified for the first time in planar thin film reaction. ⁴He⁺ backscattering and X-ray diffraction techniques have been used to analyse the formation of the compounds obtained by thin film deposition and annealing in 200–750°C temperature range. The phases appearance with increasing temperature exhibits a pattern which sequence is presented taking into account the formation temperature and the heat of reaction.     

Controlling the magnetic ground state in Cr1-x Vx films

We demonstrate the ability to control the magnetic phase diagram of Cr1-x Vx(110) thin films grown on a W(110) substrate. Using angle-resolved photoemission, we have mapped paramagnetic and commensurate and incommensurate antiferromagnetic phases as a function of temperature, film thickness, and composition. We show that surface-localized electron states play a key role in the observed phase behaviors and suggest from this that it might be possible to control the magnetic phase by applying an external electric field.     

Impurity effect on weak antilocalization in the topological insulator Bi2Te3

We study the weak antilocalization (WAL) effect in topological insulator Bi(2)Te(3) thin films at low temperatures. The two-dimensional WAL effect associated with surface carriers is revealed in the tilted magnetic field dependence of magnetoconductance. Our data demonstrate that the observed WAL is robust against deposition of nonmagnetic Au impurities on the surface of the thin films, but it is quenched by the deposition of magnetic Fe impurities which destroy the π Berry phase of the topological surface states. The magnetoconductance data of a 5 nm Bi(2)Te(3) film suggests that a crossover from symplectic to unitary classes is observed with the deposition of Fe impurities.     

Analysis of ground states of fcc thin film of binary alloy under confinement

In this paper, we have investigated the ground states of a few-layered fcc thin film of binary alloy with two surfaces in the (001) direction under symmetric surface confinement. The phase diagram of the ground states is given according to the energy analysis of binary alloy thin film composed of six atomic layers in the (001) direction. Surface confinement field (SC field) is introduced as a term to describe the confinement on the two surfaces in the (001) direction. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we have found that there are 17 different ground states occurring when both SC field and chemical potential vary from - ∞ to + ∞. Antiphase boundary(APB) was found in 12 of the 17 ground states, and only nine configurations with different symmetry were found among the 17 ground states. Received 6 November 2001 and Received in final form 25 January 2002     

Local magnetic measurements of composition-spread manganese oxide thin films with a scanning SQUID microscope

We performed scanning SQUID microscopic measurements on composition-spread La_1-xSr_xMnO₃ films deposited on various substrates. In thick films, the obtained local magnetic property as a function of x reproduces the bulk phase diagram well. In thin films (40 nm), we found that the phase boundaries significantly shifted depending on substrate materials. The stability of magnetic phases is discussed in term of the local strain associated with the lattice mismatch between film and substrate.