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At least 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Strain induced ferromagnetism in epitaxial Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films integrated on Si(001)

We report on the epitaxial growth and magnetic properties of antiferromagnetic and magnetoelectric (ME) Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films deposited on cubic yttria stabilized zirconia (c-YSZ)/Si(001) using pulsed laser deposition. The X-ray diffraction (2ϴ and Φ) and TEM characterizations confirm that the films were grown epitaxially. The Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3}(0001) growth on YSZ(001) occurs with twin domains. There are four domains of Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} with in-plane rotation of 30° or 150° from each other about the [0001] growth direction. The epitaxial relation between the layers is given as [001]Si ‖ [001]YSZ ‖ [0001]Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} and [100]Si ǁ [100]YSZ ǁ [101{sup ¯}0] Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} or [112{sup ¯}0] Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3}. Though the bulk Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} is an antiferromagnetic with T{sub N} = 307 K, we found that the films exhibit ferromagnetic like hysteresis loops with high saturation and finite coercive field up to 400 K. The thickness dependent magnetizations together with oxygen annealing results suggest that the ferromagnetism (FM) is due to oxygen related defects whose concentration is controlled by strain present in the films. This FM, in addition to the intrinsic magneto-electric properties of Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3}, opens the door to relevant spintronics applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Anisotropic-strain-relaxation-induced crosshatch morphology in epitaxial SrTiO{sub 3}/NdGaO{sub 3} thin films

We investigate the strain relaxation and surface morphology of epitaxial SrTiO{sub 3} (STO) films grown on (001){sub O} and (110){sub O} planes of orthorhombic NdGaO{sub 3} (NGO), and (001) plane of cubic (LaAlO{sub 3}){sub 0.3}(Sr{sub 2}AlTaO{sub 6}){sub 0.7} (LSAT) substrates. Although the average lattice mismatches are similar, strikingly regular crosshatched surface patterns can be found on STO/NGO(001){sub O}[(110){sub O}] films, contrary to the uniform surface of STO/LSAT(001). Based on the orientation and thickness dependent patterns and high-resolution x-ray diffractions, we ascribe the crosshatch morphology to the anisotropic strain relaxation with possibly the 60° misfit dislocation formation and lateral surface step flow in STO/NGO films, while an isotropic strain relaxation in STO/LSAT. Further, we show that the crosshatched STO/NGO(110){sub O} surface could be utilized as a template to modify the magnetotransport properties of epitaxial La{sub 0.6}Ca{sub 0.4}MnO{sub 3} films. This study highlights the crucial role of symmetry mismatch in determining the surface morphology of the perovskite oxide films, in addition to their epitaxial strain states, and offers a different route for designing and fabricating functional perovskite-oxide devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electron holography of devices with epitaxial layers

Applicability of electron holography to deep submicron Si devices with epitaxial layers is limited due to lack of the mean inner potential data and effects of the sample tilt. The mean inner potential V{sub 0} = 12.75 V of the intrinsic epitaxial SiGe was measured by electron holography in devices with Ge content C{sub Ge} = 18%. Nanobeam electron diffraction analysis performed on the same device structure showed that SiGe is strain-free in [220] direction. Our results showed good correlation with simulations of the mean inner potential of the strain-free SiGe using density function theory. A new method is proposed in this paper to correct electron holography data for the overlap of potentials of Si and the epitaxial layer, which is caused by the sample tilt. The method was applied to the analysis of the dopant diffusion in p-Field-effect Transistor devices with the identical gate length L = 30 nm, which had alternative SiGe geometry in the source and drain regions and was subjected to different thermal processing. Results have helped to understand electrical data acquired from the same devices in terms of dopant diffusion.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Crystal orientation mechanism of ZnTe epilayers formed on different orientations of sapphire substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

The electrooptic effect in ZnTe has recently attracted research attention, and various device structures using ZnTe have been explored. For application to practical terahertz wave detector devices based on ZnTe thin films, sapphire substrates are preferred because they enable the optical path alignment to be simplified. ZnTe/sapphire heterostructures were focused upon, and ZnTe epilayers were prepared on highly mismatched sapphire substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Epitaxial relationships between the ZnTe thin films and the sapphire substrates with their various orientations were investigated using an X-ray diffraction pole figure method. (0001) c-plane, (1-102) r-plane, (1-100) m-plane, and (11-20) a-plane oriented sapphire substrates were used in this study. The epitaxial relationship between ZnTe and c-plane sapphire was found to be (111) ZnTe//(0001) sapphire with an in-plane orientation relationship of [−211] ZnTe//[1-100] sapphire. It was found that the (211)-plane ZnTe layer was grown on the m-plane of the sapphire substrates, and the (100)-plane ZnTe layer was grown on the r-plane sapphire. When the sapphire substrates were inclined from the c-plane towards the m-axis direction, the orientation of the ZnTe thin films was then tilted from the (111)-plane to the (211)-plane. The c-plane of the sapphire substrates governs the formation of the (111) ZnTe domain and the ZnTe epilayer orientation. These crystallographic features were also related to the atom arrangements of ZnTe and sapphire.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Low temperature epitaxy of Ge-Sb-Te films on BaF{sub 2} (111) by pulsed laser deposition

Pulsed laser deposition was employed to deposit epitaxial Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5}-layers on the (111) plane of BaF{sub 2} single crystal substrates. X-ray diffraction measurements show a process temperature window for epitaxial growth between 85 °C and 295 °C. No crystalline growth is observed for lower temperatures, whereas higher temperatures lead to strong desorption of the film constituents. The films are of hexagonal structure with lattice parameters consistent with existing models. X-ray pole figure measurements reveal that the films grow with one single out-of-plane crystal orientation, but rotational twin domains are present. The out-of-plane epitaxial relationship is determined to be Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5}(0001) || BaF{sub 2}(111), whereas the in-plane relationship is characterized by two directions, i.e., Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} [-12-10] || BaF{sub 2}[1-10] and Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5}[1-210] || BaF{sub 2}[1-10]. Aberration-corrected high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy was used to resolve the local atomic structure and confirm the hexagonal structure of the films.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Growth of Ca{sub 2}MnO{sub 4} Ruddlesden-Popper structured thin films using combinatorial substrate epitaxy

The local epitaxial growth of pulsed laser deposited Ca{sub 2}MnO{sub 4} films on polycrystalline spark plasma sintered Sr{sub 2}TiO{sub 4} substrates was investigated to determine phase formation and preferred epitaxial orientation relationships (ORs) for isostructural Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) heteroepitaxy, further developing the high-throughput synthetic approach called Combinatorial Substrate Epitaxy (CSE). Both grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and electron backscatter diffraction patterns of the film and substrate were indexable as single-phase RP-structured compounds. The optimal growth temperature (between 650 °C and 800 °C) was found to be 750 °C using the maximum value of the average image quality of the backscattered diffraction patterns. Films grew in a grain-over-grain pattern such that each Ca{sub 2}MnO{sub 4} grain had a single OR with the Sr{sub 2}TiO{sub 4} grain on which it grew. Three primary ORs described 47 out of 49 grain pairs that covered nearly all of RP orientation space. The first OR, found for 20 of the 49, was the expected RP unit-cell over RP unit-cell OR, expressed as [100][001]{sub film}||[100][001]{sub sub}. The other two ORs were essentially rotated from the first by 90°, with one (observed for 17 of 49 pairs) being rotated about the [100] and the other (observed for 10 of 49 pairs) being rotated about the [110] (and not exactly by 90°). These results indicate that only a small number of ORs are needed to describe isostructural RP heteroepitaxy and further demonstrate the potential of CSE in the design and growth of a wide range of complex functional oxides.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Hydrogen assisted growth of high quality epitaxial graphene on the C-face of 4H-SiC

We demonstrate hydrogen assisted growth of high quality epitaxial graphene on the C-face of 4H-SiC. Compared with the conventional thermal decomposition technique, the size of the growth domain by this method is substantially increased and the thickness variation is reduced. Based on the morphology of epitaxial graphene, the role of hydrogen is revealed. It is found that hydrogen acts as a carbon etchant. It suppresses the defect formation and nucleation of graphene. It also improves the kinetics of carbon atoms via hydrocarbon species. These effects lead to increase of the domain size and the structure quality. The consequent capping effect results in smooth surface morphology and suppression of multilayer growth. Our method provides a viable route to fine tune the growth kinetics of epitaxial graphene on SiC.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Sintered tantalum carbide coatings on graphite substrates: Highly reliable protective coatings for bulk and epitaxial growth

Highly reliable low-cost protective coatings have been sought after for use in crucibles and susceptors for bulk and epitaxial film growth processes involving wide bandgap materials. Here, we propose a production technique for ultra-thick (50–200 μmt) tantalum carbide (TaC) protective coatings on graphite substrates, which consists of TaC slurry application and subsequent sintering processes, i.e., a wet ceramic process. Structural analysis of the sintered TaC layers indicated that they have a dense granular structure containing coarse grain with sizes of 10–50 μm. Furthermore, no cracks or pinholes penetrated through the layers, i.e., the TaC layers are highly reliable protective coatings. The analysis also indicated that no plastic deformation occurred during the production process, and the non-textured crystalline orientation of the TaC layers is the origin of their high reliability and durability. The TaC-coated graphite crucibles were tested in an aluminum nitride (AlN) sublimation growth process, which involves extremely corrosive conditions, and demonstrated their practical reliability and durability in the AlN growth process as a TaC-coated graphite. The application of the TaC-coated graphite materials to crucibles and susceptors for use in bulk AlN single crystal growth, bulk silicon carbide (SiC) single crystal growth, chemical vapor deposition of epitaxial SiC films, and metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy of group-III nitrides will lead to further improvements in crystal quality and reduced processing costs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of L1{sub 2} ordering in antiferromagnetic Ir-Mn epitaxial layer on exchange bias of FePd films

Two series of samples of single-layer IrMn and IrMn/FePd bilayer films, deposited on a single-crystal MgO substrate at different IrMn deposition temperatures (T{sub s} = 300–700 °C), were investigated using magnetron sputtering. L1{sub 2} ordering was revealed for the 30 nm-thick IrMn epitaxial (001) films with T{sub s} ≥ 400 °C, determined by synchrotron radiation x-ray diffractometry (XRD). XRD results also provide evidence of the epitaxial growth of the IrMn films on MgO substrate. Increasing T{sub s} from 400 to 700 °C monotonically increases the ordering parameter of L1{sub 2} phases from 0.17 to 0.81. An in-plane exchange bias field (H{sub eb}) of 22 Oe is obtained in a 10 nm-thick FePd film that is deposited on the disordered IrMn films. As the L1{sub 2} ordering of the IrMn layers increases, the H{sub eb} gradually decreases to 0 Oe, meaning that the exchange bias behavior vanishes. The increased surface roughness, revealed by atomic force microscopy, of the epitaxial IrMn layers with increasing T{sub s} cannot be the main cause of the decrease in H{sub eb} due to the compensated surface spins regardless of the disordered and ordered (001) IrMn layers. The change of antiferromagnetic structure from the A1 to the L1{sub 2} phase was correlated with the evolution of H{sub eb}.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Decoupling of epitaxial graphene via gold intercalation probed by dispersive Raman spectroscopy

Signatures of a superlattice structure composed of a quasi periodic arrangement of atomic gold clusters below an epitaxied graphene (EG) layer are examined using dispersive Raman spectroscopy. The gold-graphene system exhibits a laser excitation energy dependant red shift of the 2D mode as compared to pristine epitaxial graphene. The phonon dispersions in both the systems are mapped using the experimentally observed Raman signatures and a third-nearest neighbour tight binding electronic band structure model. Our results reveal that the observed excitation dependent Raman red shift in gold EG primarily arise from the modifications of the phonon dispersion in gold-graphene and shows that the extent of decoupling of graphene from the underlying SiC substrate can be monitored from the dispersive nature of the Raman 2D modes. The intercalated gold atoms restore the phonon band structure of epitaxial graphene towards free standing graphene.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Room temperature ferromagnetism in epitaxial Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films grown on r-sapphire

We report on the epitaxial growth and magnetic properties of Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films grown on r-sapphire substrate using pulsed laser deposition. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) (2θ and Φ) and TEM characterization confirm that the films are grown epitaxially. The r-plane (011{sup ¯}2) of Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} grows on r-plane of sapphire. The epitaxial relations can be written as [011{sup ¯}2] Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} ‖ [011{sup ¯}2] Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} (out-of-plane) and [1{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}20] Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} ‖ [1{sup ¯}1{sup ¯}20] Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} (in-plane). The as-deposited films showed ferromagnetic behavior up to 400 K but ferromagnetism almost vanishes with oxygen annealing. The Raman spectroscopy data together with strain measurements using high resolution XRD indicate that ferromagnetism in r-Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films is due to the strain caused by defects, such as oxygen vacancies.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

An InP/Si heterojunction photodiode fabricated by self-aligned corrugated epitaxial lateral overgrowth

An n-InP/p-Si heterojunction photodiode fabricated by corrugated epitaxial lateral overgrowth (CELOG) method is presented. N-InP/p-Si heterojunction has been achieved from a suitable pattern containing circular shaped openings in a triangular lattice on the InP seed layer on p-Si substrate and subsequent CELOG of completely coalesced n-InP. To avoid current path through the seed layer in the final photodiode, semi-insulating InP:Fe was grown with adequate thickness prior to n-InP growth in a low pressure hydride vapor phase epitaxy reactor. The n-InP/p-Si heterointerface was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Room temperature cross-sectional photoluminescence (PL) mapping illustrates the defect reduction effect in InP grown on Si by CELOG method. The InP PL intensity measured above the InP/Si heterojunction is comparable to that of InP grown on a native planar substrate indicating low interface defect density of CELOG InP despite of 8% lattice mismatch with Si. The processed n-InP/p-Si heterojunction photodiodes show diode characteristics from the current-voltage (I-V) measurements with a dark current density of 0.324 mA/cm{sup 2} at a reverse voltage of −1 V. Under the illumination of AM1.5 conditions, the InP/Si heterojunction photodiode exhibited photovoltaic effect with an open circuit voltage of 180 mV, a short circuit current density of 1.89 mA/cm{sup 2}, an external quantum efficiency of 4.3%, and an internal quantum efficiency of 6.4%. This demonstration of epitaxially grown InP/Si heterojunction photodiode will open the door for low cost and high efficiency solar cells and photonic integration of III-Vs on silicon.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Controlling electronic structure through epitaxial strain in ZnSe/ZnTe nano-heterostructures

Using first-principles computations, we study the effect of epitaxial strains on electronic structure variations across ZnSe/ZnTe nano-heterostructures. Epitaxial strains of various types are modeled using pseudomorphic ZnSe/ZnTe heterostructures. We find that a wide range of band gaps (spanning the visible solar spectrum) and band offsets (0–1.5 eV) is accessible across the heterostructures in a controllable manner via reasonable levels of epitaxial strain. In addition to quantum confinement effects, strain in ZnSe/ZnTe heterostructures may thus be viewed as a powerful degree of freedom that can enable the rational design of optoelectronic devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Interface engineering in epitaxial growth of layered oxides via a conducting layer insertion

There is a long-standing challenge in the fabrication of layered oxide epitaxial films due to their thermodynamic phase-instability and the large stacking layer number. Recently, the demand for high-quality thin films is strongly pushed by their promising room-temperature multiferroic properties. Here, we find that by inserting a conducting and lattice matched LaNiO{sub 3} buffer layer, high quality m = 5 Bi{sub 6}FeCoTi{sub 3}O{sub 18} epitaxial films can be fabricated using the laser molecular beam epitaxy, in which the atomic-scale sharp interface between the film and the metallic buffer layer explains the enhanced quality. The magnetic and ferroelectric properties of the high quality Bi{sub 6}FeCoTi{sub 3}O{sub 18} films are studied. This study demonstrates that insertion of the conducting layer is a powerful method in achieving high quality layered oxide thin films, which opens the door to further understand the underline physics and to develop new devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Epitaxial Ni-Mn-Ga-Co thin films on PMN-PT substrates for multicaloric applications

Multicaloric stacks consisting of a magnetocaloric film on a piezoelectric substrate promise improved caloric properties as the transition temperature can be controlled by both magnetic and electric fields. We present epitaxially grown magnetocaloric Ni-Mn-Ga-Co thin films on ferroelectric Pb(Mg{sub 1/3}Nb{sub 2/3}){sub 0.72}Ti{sub 0.28}O{sub 3} substrates. Structure and microstructure of two samples, being in the austenitic and martensitic state at room temperature, are investigated by X-ray diffraction in two- and four-circle geometry and by atomic force microscopy. In addition, high temperature magnetometry was performed on the latter sample. The combination of these methods allows separating the influence of epitaxial growth and martensitic transformation. A preferential alignment of twin boundaries is observed already in the as-deposited state, which indicates the presence of prestress, without applying an electric field to the substrate. A temperature-magnetic field phase diagram is presented, which demonstrates the inverse magnetocaloric effect of the epitaxial Ni-Mn-Ga-Co film.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Strain in epitaxial Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} grown on GaN and graphene substrates: A reflection high-energy electron diffraction study

Topological insulator (TI) has been one of the focus research themes in condensed matter physics in recent years. Due to the relatively large energy bandgap, Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} has been identified as one of the most promising three-dimensional TIs with application potentials. Epitaxial Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} by molecular-beam epitaxy has been reported by many groups using different substrates. A common feature is that Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} grows readily along the c-axis direction irrespective of the type and condition of the substrate. Because of the weak van der Waals interaction between Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} quintuple layers, the grown films are reported to be strain-free, taking the lattice constant of the bulk crystal. At the very initial stage of Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} deposition, however, strain may still exist depending on the substrate. Strain may bring some drastic effects to the properties of the TIs and so achieving strained TIs can be of great fundamental interests as well as practical relevance. In this work, we employ reflection high-energy electron diffraction to follow the lattice constant evolution of Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} during initial stage depositions on GaN and graphene, two very different substrates. We reveal that epitaxial Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} is tensile strained on GaN but strain-free on graphene. Strain relaxation on GaN is gradual.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

The in-plane anisotropic magnetic damping of ultrathin epitaxial Co{sub 2}FeAl film

The in-plane orientation-dependent effective damping of ultrathin Co{sub 2}FeAl film epitaxially grown on GaAs(001) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has been investigated by employing the time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect (TR-MOKE) measurements. It is found that the interface-induced uniaxial anisotropy is favorable for precession response and the anisotropy of precession frequency is mainly determined by this uniaxial anisotropy, while the magnetic relaxation time and damping factor exhibit the fourfold anisotropy at high-field regime. The field-independent anisotropic damping factor obtained at high fields indicates that the effective damping shows an intrinsic fourfold anisotropy for the epitaxial Co{sub 2}FeAl thin films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Atomic layer deposition of perovskite oxides and their epitaxial integration with Si, Ge, and other semiconductors

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a proven technique for the conformal deposition of oxide thin films with nanoscale thickness control. Most successful industrial applications have been with binary oxides, such as Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and HfO{sub 2}. However, there has been much effort to deposit ternary oxides, such as perovskites (ABO{sub 3}), with desirable properties for advanced thin film applications. Distinct challenges are presented by the deposition of multi-component oxides using ALD. This review is intended to highlight the research of the many groups that have deposited perovskite oxides by ALD methods. Several commonalities between the studies are discussed. Special emphasis is put on precursor selection, deposition temperatures, and specific property performance (high-k, ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, etc.). Finally, the monolithic integration of perovskite oxides with semiconductors by ALD is reviewed. High-quality epitaxial growth of oxide thin films has traditionally been limited to physical vapor deposition techniques (e.g., molecular beam epitaxy). However, recent studies have demonstrated that epitaxial oxide thin films may be deposited on semiconductor substrates using ALD. This presents an exciting opportunity to integrate functional perovskite oxides for advanced semiconductor applications in a process that is economical and scalable.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗