Orientation control of perovskite thin films on glass substrates by the application of a seed layer prepared from oxide nanosheets

Orientation control of perovskite compounds was investigated by the application of a seed layer prepared from oxide nanosheets. An aqueous suspension of oxide nanosheets was prepared by the exfoliation of a layered compound of KCa₂Nb₃O₁₀ oxide grains. A seed layer composed of (TBA)Ca₂Nb₃O₁₀ nanosheets (TBA = tetrabutylammonium) was formed on a glass substrate by simply dip coating it in the suspension. Two kinds of perovskite compounds, LaNiO₃ (LNO) and Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ (PZT) with a preferred orientation of (00l) were successfully grown on this seeded glass substrate. In this study, the relation between lattice mismatch and electrical properties is investigated. A large, oriented PZT film with a size of 5 ×4 cm shows an improved P-E hysteresis behavior by use of this orientation control.     

Effect of epitaxial crystallization on packet-like space charge characteristics in low-density polyethylene under multi-field coupling conditions

In order to study the effect of epitaxial crystallization on charge transport in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) under multi-field coupling conditions, three typical epitaxial crystallizations, namely disorder (glass substrate), crossover (isotactic polypropylene substrate), and parallel (polytetrafluoroethylene substrate), were prepared and denoted as LD-G, LD-iPP, and LD-PT, respectively. Packet-like space charge through samples was analyzed by the pulsed electro-acoustic (PEA) method. It is shown that different microscopic surface morphologies appeared in the LDPE samples with different epitaxial crystallizations, which, however, do not change the crystalline structure of the bulk. Packet-like space charge phenomena were observed and the distortion field increased with the temperature which could be attributed to the larger amount of charge injection in a shorter period. The differences of the amount and injection rate of the space charge were explained and verified considering the typical chain alignment of epitaxial crystallization, which, in our opinions, contributes to the pass over of positive charge in LD-iPP samples.     

Advances in two-dimensional heterostructures by mono-element intercalation underneath epitaxial graphene

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have displayed many remarkable physical properties, including 2D superconductivity, magnetism, and layer-dependent bandgaps. However, it is difficult for a single 2D material to meet complex practical requirements. Heterostructures obtained by vertically stacking different kinds of 2D materials have extensively attracted researchers’ attention because of their rich electronic features. With heterostructures, the constraints of lattice matching can be overcome. Meanwhile, high application potential has been explored for electronic and optoelectronic devices, including tunneling transistors, flexible electronics, and photodetectors. Specifically, graphene-based van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) by intercalation are emerging to realize various functional heterostructures-based electronic devices. Intercalating atoms under epitaxial graphene can efficiently decouple graphene from the substrate, and is expected to realize rich novel electronic properties in graphene. In this study, we systematically review the progress of the mono-element intercalation in graphene-based vdWHs, including the intercalation mechanism, intercalation-modified electronic properties, and the practical applications of 2D intercalated heterostructures. This work would inspire edge-cutting ideas in the scientific frontiers of 2D materials.     

MgO和Si上NbN超薄薄膜的生长研究

我们在单晶MgO(100)、Si(100)和SiOx/Si基片上成功生长了纳米厚度的超薄NbN薄膜,利用现代分析手段:X射线衍射(XRD)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、原子力显微镜(AFM)等技术分析研究了所制备的超薄NbN薄膜的微观结构、厚度、表面界面情况等物理特性。研究表明,在MgO(100)基片上获得了外延生长的单晶NbN超薄薄膜,在Si(100)和SiOx/Si基片上获得的是多晶NbN超薄薄膜。厚度均约6nm左右。这些超薄薄膜的超导转变温度分别为:MgO上薄膜是14.46K,Si和SiOx上薄膜分别是8.74K和9.01K.     

Plasma Treatment Enhanced Magnetic Properties in Manganese Doped Titanium Nitride Thin Films

The ferromagnetic manganese doped TiN films were grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy on MgO(001) substrates. The nitrogen concentration and the ratio of manganese at Ti lattice sites increase after the plasma annealing post treatment. TiN(002) peak shifts toward low angle direction and TiN(111) peak disappears after the post treatment. The lattice expansion and peak shift are mainly ascribed to the reduction of nitrogen vacancies in films. The magnetism was suppressed in as-prepared sample due to the pinning effect of the nitrogen vacancies at defect sites or interface. The magnetism can be activated by the plasma implantation along with nitrogen vacancies reduce. The decrease of nitrogen vacancies leads to the enhancement of ferromagnetism.     

Characterization of the carrot defect in 4H-SiC epitaxial layers

Characterization of the epitaxial defect known as the carrot defect was performed in thick 4H-SiC epilayers. A large number of carrot defects have been studied using different experimental techniques such as Nomarski optical microscopy, KOH etching, cathodoluminescence and synchrotron white beam X-ray topography. This has revealed that carrot defects appear in many different shapes and structures in the epilayers. Our results support the previous assignment of the carrot defect as related to a prismatic stacking fault. However, we have observed carrot defects with and without a visible threading dislocation related etch pit in the head region, after KOH etching. Polishing of epilayers in a few μm steps in combination with etching in molten KOH and imaging using Nomarski optical microscope has been used to find the geometry and origin of the carrot defects in different epilayers. The defects were found to originate both at the epi-substrate interface and during the epitaxial growth. Different sources of the carrot defect have been observed at the epi-substrate interface, which result in different structures and surfaces appearance of the defect in the epilayer. Furthermore, termination of the carrot defect inside the epilayer and the influence of substrate surface damage and growth conditions on the density of carrot defects are studied.     

Light emission from Si nanocrystals embedded in CaF2 epilayers on Si(1 1 1): Effect of rapid thermal annealing

Visible photoluminescence (PL) of nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) embedded in single crystal CaF₂ formed on Si(1 1 1) has been studied and the influence of ex situ rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the surface morphology and PL spectra has been studied. It has been found that the PL intensity and uniformity was improved by RTA with appropriate temperature and short annealing time.     

Stress dependence of growth mode change of epitaxial layered cobaltite γ-Na0.7CoO2

We report stress dependence of growth characteristics of epitaxial γ-Na_0.7CoO₂ films on various substrates deposited by pulsed laser deposition method. On the sapphire substrate, the γ-Na_0.7CoO₂ thin film exhibits spiral surface growth with multi-terraces and highly crystallized texture. For the γ-Na_0.7CoO₂ thin film grown on the (1 1 1) SrTiO₃ substrate, the nano-islands of ∼30 nm diameter on the hexagonal grains are observed. These islands indicate that the growth mode changes from step-flow growth mode to Stranski-Krastanow (SK) growth mode. On the (1 1 1) MgO substrate, the large grains formed by excess adatoms covering an aperture between hexagonal grains are observed. These experimental demonstrations and controllability could provide opportunities of strain effects of Na_xCoO₂, physical properties of thin films, and growth dynamics of heterogeneous epitaxial thin films.     

Combinatorial synthesis and characterization of a ternary epitaxial film of Co and Mn doped Ge (0 0 1)

We report combinatorial molecular beam epitaxy synthesis and properties of a ternary epitaxial film of Co and Mn co-doped Ge grown on Ge (0 0 1) substrate. Structural effects were examined in situ by reflection high-energy electron diffraction and ex situ by microbeam X-ray diffraction techniques, and magnetic properties were probed by using magnetooptic Kerr effect. Ternary epitaxial phase diagrams have been studied for total doping concentrations up to 30 at.%, where regions of coherent epitaxy and rough disordered growth and those of near room temperature ferromagnetic ordering have been identified.