Structural phases driven by oxygen vacancies at the La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrTiO3 hetero-interface

An oxygen vacancy driven structural response at the epitaxial interface between La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films and SrTiO3 substrates is reported. A combined scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy study reveal the presence of an elongated out-of-plane lattice parameter, coupled to oxygen vacancies and reduced manganese oxidation state at the La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 side of the interface. Density functional theory calculations support that the measured interface structure is a disordered oxygen deficient brownmillerite structure. The effect of oxygen vacancy mobility is assessed, revealing an ordering of the vacancies with time

Direct Observation of Charge Transfer between NOx and Monolayer MoS2 by Operando Scanning Photoelectron Microscopy

Atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides MoS2, WSe2, etc. have long been touted as promising materials for gas detection because of their tunable band gaps; however, the sensing mechanism, based on a charge transfer process, has not been fully explored. Here, we directly observe the effect of this charge transfer on the doping levels in MoS2 upon exposure to NOx by performing scanning photoelectron microscopy SPEM on a monolayer MoS2 transistor under bias conditions in a gas environment. By a comparison of the operando SPEM maps of the transistor with and without exposure to NOx gas, a downward shift in the Fermi level position could be detected, consistent with NOx gas making the MoS2 channel less n typ

Dynamic observation of dislocation evolution and interaction with twin boundaries in silicon crystal growth using in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction imaging

International audienceThe grown-in dislocation dynamics and interaction mechanisms with growth twins are investigated in-situ during the directional solidification of silicon crystal. The melting, solidification and cooling down process is performed in a dedicated installation at the European synchrotron radiation facility and is followed by X-ray Bragg diffraction imaging techniques (X-ray topography) at the mesoscale in real-time. Existing dislocations in the seed are observed to propagate in the up-grown crystal via replicas. They expand vertically with the moving solid-liquid interface being always aligned perpendicular to the growth front. During the solidification process when they meet a growth twin lamella (Σ3{111}), they neither pile-up nor transmit through the boundary. They are blocked by the twin, but they continue to move laterally behind the growth front due to the thermomechanical stresses in the system. The existence of dislocations at the solid-liquid interface, their evolution and interaction with twin boundaries is discussed, as growth proceeds, based on a detailed crystallographic analysis of the system

Surface stability of epitaxial La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 thin films on (111)-oriented SrTiO3

We report on the stability of the La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 thin film surface when deposited on (111)-oriented SrTiO3. For ultrathin La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films, an initial 3-dimensional morphology is observed, which becomes 2-dimensional with increasing film thickness. For even thicker samples, we show that the surface morphology evolves from 2-dimensional to 3-dimensional and that this observation is consistent with an Asaro-Tiller-Grinfeld instability, which can be controlled by the deposition temperature. This allows for synthesis of films with step-and-terrace surfaces over a wide range of thicknesses. Structural characterization by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy shows that the films are strained to the SrTiO3 substrate and reveals the presence of an elongated out-of-plane lattice parameter at the interface with SrTiO3