Revealing Strain Effects on the Chemical Composition of Perovskite Oxide Thin Films Surface, Bulk, and Interfaces

Understanding the effects of lattice strain on oxygen surface and diffusion kinetics in oxides is a controversial subject that is critical for developing efficient energy storage and conversion materials. In this work, high-quality epitaxial thin films of the model perovskite LaSrMnCoO (LSMC), under compressive or tensile strain, are characterized with a combination of in situ and ex situ bulk and surface-sensitive techniques. The results demonstrate a nonlinear correlation of mechanical and chemical properties as a function of the operation conditions. It is observed that the effect of strain on reducibility is dependent on the "effective strain" induced on the chemical bonds. In-plain strain, and in particular the relative BO length bond, is the key factor controlling which of the B-site cation can be reduced preferentially. Furthermore, the need to use a set of complimentary techniques to isolate different chemically induced strain effects is proven. With this, it is confirmed that tensile strain favors the stabilization of a more reduced lattice, accompanied by greater segregation of strontium secondary phases and a decrease of oxygen exchange kinetics on LSMC thin films

Selective ion-induced grain growth: Thermal spike modeling and its experimental validation

Ion-bombardment-induced selective grain growth is a process that allows for full control of the orientation of vapor-deposited thin films, which can be converted from fiber-textured polycrystalline to single-crystal films. The main mechanisms behind this phenomenon are explained by a new thermal spike model, which takes into account and compares the different driving forces governing the film microstructure evolution upon irradiation and emphasizes the importance of the thermal spike shape and volume. The strong agreement between model and experimental data confirms that selective grain growth is driven by the minimization of the volume free energy. (C) 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Zr-doped indium oxide electrodes: Annealing and thickness effects on microstructure and carrier transport

Zr-doped indium oxide (In2O3:Zr) has been shown to satisfy the requirements of low resistance, wide band gap, and high infrared transmittance for application as a front contact in broadband solar cells. However, the reduction of indium usage in front of transparent electrodes is still an unsatisfied requirement. With the goal of reducing the amount of indium while leveraging its properties, in this work, In2O3 :Zr films with reduced thickness compared to those standardly used in solar cells are studied. 100 to 15-nm-thick films were sputtered at room temperature and annealed in distinct atmospheres to study the links between thickness, microstructure, and optoelectronic properties. As-deposited films exhibit an amorphous microstructure embedding bixbyite In2O3 nanocrystals. Annealing in neutral (N-2) or reducing atmosphere (H-2) allows a slight growth of these crystallites but the layers remain mostly amorphous. Whereas annealing in air results in polycrystalline films with an average grain lateral size ranging from 350 to 500 nm. The large crystalline grains formed during air annealing lead to increased electron mobility for all thickness: up to 100 cm(2)V(-1)s(-1) for 100-nm-thick films and up to 50 cm(2)V(-1)s(-1) for 15-nm-thick films, which is remarkable for such thin polycrystalline films. Conversely, H-2 annealing ensures high free-carrier densities (>1 x 10(20) cm(-3)) but not high mobilities, still achieving conductivities between 1000 and 2000 S cm(-1), with the films less than 50-nm-thick keeping high broadband transmittance. The possibility of thinning down In2O3:Zr to a few tens of nanometers while keeping both high lateral conductivity and good transparency makes this material a promising candidate to reduce the amount of indium in optoelectronic applications, such as flexible touch screens and solar cells

Revealing Strain Effects on the Chemical Composition of Perovskite Oxide Thin Films Surface, Bulk, and Interfaces

Understanding the effects of lattice strain on oxygen surface and diffusion kinetics in oxides is a controversial subject that is critical for developing efficient energy storage and conversion materials. In this work, high-quality epitaxial thin films of the model perovskite LaSrMnCoO (LSMC), under compressive or tensile strain, are characterized with a combination of in situ and ex situ bulk and surface-sensitive techniques. The results demonstrate a nonlinear correlation of mechanical and chemical properties as a function of the operation conditions. It is observed that the effect of strain on reducibility is dependent on the "effective strain" induced on the chemical bonds. In-plain strain, and in particular the relative BO length bond, is the key factor controlling which of the B-site cation can be reduced preferentially. Furthermore, the need to use a set of complimentary techniques to isolate different chemically induced strain effects is proven. With this, it is confirmed that tensile strain favors the stabilization of a more reduced lattice, accompanied by greater segregation of strontium secondary phases and a decrease of oxygen exchange kinetics on LSMC thin films