366 research outputs found
Imaging Pulsed Laser Deposition oxide growth by in-situ Atomic Force Microscopy
To visualize the topography of thin oxide films during growth, thereby
enabling to study its growth behavior quasi real-time, we have designed and
integrated an atomic force microscope (AFM) in a pulsed laser deposition (PLD)
vacuum setup. The AFM scanner and PLD target are integrated in a single support
frame, combined with a fast sample transfer method, such that in-situ
microscopy can be utilized after subsequent deposition pulses. The in-situ
microscope can be operated from room temperature (RT) up to 700C and at
(process) pressures ranging from the vacuum base pressure of 10 mbar up
to 1 mbar, typical PLD conditions for the growth of oxide films. The
performance of this instrument is demonstrated by resolving unit cell height
surface steps and surface topography under typical oxide PLD growth conditions.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Determining the energetics of vicinal perovskite oxide surfaces
The energetics of vicinal SrTiO(001) and DyScO(110), prototypical
perovskite vicinal surfaces, has been studied using topographic atomic force
microscopy imaging. The kink formation and strain relaxation energies are
extracted from a statistical analysis of the step meandering. Both perovskite
surfaces have very similar kink formation energies and exhibit a similar
triangular step undulation. Our experiments suggest that the energetics of
perovskite oxide surfaces is mainly governed by the local oxygen coordination.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure
Epitaxial multilayers of YBa2Cu3Ox/PrBa2Cu3Ox/YBa2Cu3Ox
Heteroepitaxial multilayers of YBa2Cu3Ox/PrBa2Cu3Ox/YBa2Cu3Ox have been made by sputtering. No degradation of the transition temperature and the critical current density due to the presence of the PrBa2Cu3Ox layer could be observed. By using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy the atomic details of the interfaces and the defect structures have been studied. These films showed a perfectly stacked lattice just above the interface between film and substrate. The orientation of the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate was fairly perfect. The structural faults are mainly distributed in the middle and overlying layers. The dominant defects in our films seems to be stacking faults which give rise to nano-sized coherent anti-phase domains with the 1-2-3 structure. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and scanning Auger microscopy were used to examine the interdiffusion between layers. Within the experimental resolution of 7 nm no interdiffusion is visible between YBa2Cu3Ox and PrBa2Cu3Ox layers
Critical thickness and orbital ordering in ultrathin La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films
Detailed analysis of transport, magnetism and x-ray absorption spectroscopy
measurements on ultrathin La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films with thicknesses from 3 to 70
unit cells resulted in the identification of a lower critical thickness for a
non-metallic, non-ferromagnetic layer at the interface with the SrTiO3 (001)
substrate of only 3 unit cells (~12 Angstrom). Furthermore, linear dichroism
measurements demonstrate the presence of a preferred (x2-y2) in-plane orbital
ordering for all layer thicknesses without any orbital reconstruction at the
interface. A crucial requirement for the accurate study of these ultrathin
films is a controlled growth process, offering the coexistence of
layer-by-layer growth and bulk-like magnetic/transport properties.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Spin chirality fluctuation in two-dimensional ferromagnets with perpendicular anisotropy
Non-coplanar spin textures with scalar spin chirality can generate effective
magnetic field that deflects the motion of charge carriers, resulting in
topological Hall effect (THE), a powerful probe of the ground state and
low-energy excitations of correlated systems. However, spin chirality
fluctuation in two-dimensional ferromagnets with perpendicular anisotropy has
not been considered in prior studies. Herein, we report direct evidence of
universal spin chirality fluctuation by probing the THE above the transition
temperatures in two different ferromagnetic ultra-thin films, SrRuO and V
doped SbTe. The temperature, magnetic field, thickness, and carrier
type dependences of the THE signal, along with our Monte-Carlo simulations,
unambiguously demonstrate that the spin chirality fluctuation is a universal
phenomenon in two-dimensional Ising ferromagnets. Our discovery opens a new
paradigm of exploring the spin chirality with topological Hall transport in
two-dimensional magnets and beyondComment: accepted by nature material
Determination of the spin-flip time in ferromagnetic SrRuO3 from time-resolved Kerr measurements
We report time-resolved Kerr effect measurements of magnetization dynamics in
ferromagnetic SrRuO3. We observe that the demagnetization time slows
substantially at temperatures within 15K of the Curie temperature, which is ~
150K. We analyze the data with a phenomenological model that relates the
demagnetization time to the spin flip time. In agreement with our observations
the model yields a demagnetization time that is inversely proportional to T-Tc.
We also make a direct comparison of the spin flip rate and the Gilbert damping
coefficient showing that their ratio very close to kBTc, indicating a common
origin for these phenomena
Parallel electron-hole bilayer conductivity from electronic interface reconstruction
The perovskite SrTiO-LaAlO structure has advanced to a model system
to investigate the rich electronic phenomena arising at polar interfaces. Using
first principles calculations and transport measurements we demonstrate that an
additional SrTiO capping layer prevents structural and chemical
reconstruction at the LaAlO surface and triggers the electronic
reconstruction at a significantly lower LaAlO film thickness than for the
uncapped systems. Combined theoretical and experimental evidence (from
magnetotransport and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy) suggests two
spatially separated sheets with electron and hole carriers, that are as close
as 1 nm.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett., in pres
Two-Dimensional Confinement of 3d1 Electrons in LaTiO3/LaAlO3 Multilayers
We report spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements of the anisotropy of the
interband transitions parallel and perpendicular to the planes of
(LaTiO3)n(LaAlO3)5 multilayers with n = 1-3. These provide direct information
about the electronic structure of the two-dimensional (2D) 3d^1 state of the Ti
ions. In combination with LDA+U calculations, we suggest that 2D confinement in
the TiO2 slabs lifts the degeneracy of the t_{2g} states leaving only the
planar d_xy orbitals occupied. We outline that these multilayers can serve as a
model system for the study of the t_{2g} 2D Hubbard model.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
Dielectric-permittivity-driven charge carrier modulation at oxide interfaces
High-quality bilayers of La-doped SrTiO3 (STO) and LaAlO3 (LAO) on SrTiO3 have been grown controlling the location and behavior of the charge carriers by changing the thicknesses of the layers, which are dielectrically mismatched. In this system, the charge carriers are created at the La:SrTiO3/LAO interface and spread out toward the substrate due to the increase in dielectric constant as the temperature is lowered. When the electrons reach the interface of the La:SrTiO3 and the pure STO, they display enhanced mobility in the quantum well at that interface for specific thicknesses
- …