Influence of oxygen pressure and aging on LaAlO3 films grown by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO3 substrates

The crystal structures of LaAlO3 films grown by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO3 substrates at oxygen pressure of 10-3 mbar or 10-5 mbar, where kinetics of ablated species hardly depend on oxygen background pressure, are compared. Our results show that the interface between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 is sharper when the oxygen pressure is lower. Over time, the formation of various crystalline phases is observed while the crystalline thickness of the LaAlO3 layer remains unchanged. X-ray scattering as well as atomic force microscopy measurements indicate three-dimensional growth of such phases, which appear to be fed from an amorphous capping layer present in as-grown samples

Influence of oxygen pressure and aging on LaAlO3 films grown by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO3 substrates

International audienceThe crystal structures of LaAlO3 films grown by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO3 substrates at oxygen pressure of 10−3 millibars or 10−5 millibars, where kinetics of ablated species hardly depend on oxygen background pressure, are compared. Our results show that the interface between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 is sharper when the oxygen pressure is lower. Over time, the formation of various crystalline phases is observed while the crystalline thickness of the LaAlO3 layer remains unchanged. X-ray scattering as well as atomic force microscopy measurements indicate three-dimensional growth of such phases, which appear to be fed from an amorphous capping layer present in as-grown samples

Crystallinity of tellurium capping and epitaxy of ferromagnetic topological insulator films on SrTiO3

Thin films of topological insulators are often capped with an insulating layer since topological insulators are known to be fragile to degradation. However, capping can hinder the observation of novel transport properties of the surface states. To understand the influence of capping on the surface states, it is crucial to understand the crystal structure and the atomic arrangement at the interfaces. Here, we use x-ray diffraction to establish the crystal structure of magnetic topological insulator Cr-doped (Bi,Sb)2Te3 (CBST) films grown on SrTiO3 (1 1 1) substrates with and without a Te capping layer. We find that both the film and capping layer are single crystal and that the crystal quality of the film is independent of the presence of the capping layer, but that x-rays cause sublimation of the CBST film, which is prevented by the capping layer. Our findings show that the different transport properties of capped films cannot be attributed to a lower crystal quality but to a more subtle effect such as a different electronic structure at the interface with the capping layer. Our results on the crystal structure and atomic arrangements of the topological heterostructure will enable modelling the electronic structure and design of topological heterostructures.ISSN:2045-232

Inducing vortex formation in multilayered circular dots using remanent curves

We report field manipulation of magnetic vortex states in Co(30 nm)/Cu(3 nm)/Ni80Fe20 (20 nm)-multilayer dot arrays via remanent curve. The element-resolved resonant x-ray magnetic measurements, combined with micromagnetic simulations, show vortex formation in the Co layer but not in the NiFe layer along the major hysteresis loop. Although the two magnetic layers are not directly coupled due to the presence of the Cu interlayer, the NiFe layer is strongly influenced by the dipolar field from uncompensated magnetic poles in the Co layer. Using remanent curves, we demonstrate that the single vortex state can be induced simultaneously in both layers. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4766347]open1133sciescopu