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At least 793 records · Page 44
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Luminescence properties of Si-capped β-FeSi{sub 2} nanodots epitaxially grown on Si(001) and (111) substrates

We studied the luminescence properties of Si-capped β-FeSi{sub 2} nanodots (NDs) epitaxially grown on Si substrates by using photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) spectroscopies. Codepositing Fe and Si on ultrathin SiO{sub 2} films induced the self-assembly of epitaxial β-FeSi{sub 2} NDs. The PL spectra of the Si/β-FeSi{sub 2} NDs/Si structure depended on the crystal orientation of the Si substrate. These structures exhibited a broad PL peak near 0.8 eV on both Si(001) and (111) substrates. The PL intensity depended on the shape of the β-FeSi{sub 2} NDs. For the flat NDs, which exhibited higher PL intensity, we also recorded EL spectra. We explained the luminescence properties of these structures by the presence of nanostructured Si offering radiative electronic states in the Si cap layers, generated by nano-stressors for upper Si layer: the strain-relaxed β-FeSi{sub 2} NDs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Single-crystal cubic boron nitride thin films grown by ion-beam-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

We investigated the formation of cubic boron nitride (c-BN) thin films on diamond (001) and (111) substrates by ion-beam-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The metastable c-BN (sp{sup 3}-bonded BN) phase can be epitaxially grown as a result of the interplay between competitive phase formation and selective etching. We show that a proper adjustment of acceleration voltage for N{sub 2}{sup +} and Ar{sup +} ions is a key to selectively discriminate non-sp{sup 3} BN phases. At low acceleration voltage values, the sp{sup 2}-bonded BN is dominantly formed, while at high acceleration voltages, etching dominates irrespective of the bonding characteristics of BN.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Determination of crystallographic orientation of lead-free piezoelectric (K,Na)NbO{sub 3} epitaxial thin films grown on SrTiO{sub 3} (100) surfaces

Crystallographic structure of sol-gel-processed lead-free (K,Na)NbO{sub 3} (KNN) epitaxial films on [100]-cut SrTiO{sub 3} single-crystalline substrates was investigated for a deeper understanding of its piezoelectric response. Lattice parameter measurement by high-resolution X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the orthorhombic KNN films on SrTiO{sub 3} (100) surfaces are [010] oriented (b-axis-oriented) rather than commonly identified c-axis orientation. Based on the crystallographic orientation and corresponding ferroelectric domain structure investigated by piezoresponse force microscopy, the superior piezoelectric property along b-axis of epitaxial KNN films than other orientations can be explained.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Real-time reflectance-difference spectroscopy of GaAs molecular beam epitaxy homoepitaxial growth

We report on real time-resolved Reflectance-difference (RD) spectroscopy of GaAs(001) grown by molecular beam epitaxy, with a time-resolution of 500 ms per spectrum within the 2.3–4.0 eV photon energy range. Through the analysis of transient RD spectra we demonstrated that RD line shapes are comprised of two components with different physical origins and determined their evolution during growth. Such components were ascribed to the subsurface strain induced by surface reconstruction and to surface stoichiometry. Results reported in this paper render RD spectroscopy as a powerful tool for the study of fundamental processes during the epitaxial growth of zincblende semiconductors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetotransport in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions grown by molecular beam epitaxy (invited)

The strong impact of molecular beam epitaxy growth and Synchrotron Radiation characterization tools in the understanding of fundamental issues in nanomagnetism and spintronics is illustrated through the example of fully epitaxial MgO-based Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJs). If ab initio calculations predict very high tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in such devices, some discrepancy between theory and experiments still exists. The influence of imperfections in real systems has thus to be considered like surface contaminations, structural defects, unexpected electronic states, etc. The influence of possible oxygen contamination at the Fe/MgO(001) interface is thus studied, and is shown to be not so detrimental to TMR as predicted by ab initio calculations. On the contrary, the decrease of dislocations density in the MgO barrier of MTJs using Fe{sub 1−x}V{sub x} electrodes is shown to significantly increase TMR. Finally, unexpected transport properties in Fe{sub 1−X}Co{sub x}/MgO/Fe{sub 1−X}Co{sub x} (001) are presented. With the help of spin and symmetry resolved photoemission and ab initio calculation, the TMR decrease for Co content higher than 25% is shown to come from the existence of an interface state and the shift of the empty Δ1 minority spin state towards the Fermi level.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spin and orbital moments of nanoscale Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} epitaxial thin film on MgO/GaAs(100)

Nanoscale Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} epitaxial thin film has been synthesized on MgO/GaAs(100) spintronic heterostructure, and studied with X-ray magnetic circular dichroism. We have observed a total magnetic moment (m{sub l+s}) of (3.32 ± 0.1)μ{sub B}/f.u., retaining 83% of the bulk value. Unquenched orbital moment (m{sub l}) of (0.47 ± 0.05)μ{sub B}/f.u. has been confirmed by carefully applying the sum rule. The results offer direct experimental evidence of the bulk-like total magnetic moment and a large orbital moment in the nanoscale fully epitaxial Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}/MgO/GaAs(100) heterostructure, which is significant for spintronics applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Pulsed laser deposition of epitaxial BeO thin films on sapphire and SrTiO{sub 3}

Epitaxial beryllia thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(001) and SrTiO{sub 3}(111) substrates. Nearly relaxed epitaxial films were obtained on both substrates at growth temperatures of up to about 600 °C. Crystalline films with expanded lattice parameters were obtained even at room temperature. The maximum growth temperature was limited by a loss of beryllium from the film surface. The volatility of beryllium appeared to be caused by the slow oxidation kinetics at the film surface and the re-sputtering effect of high-energy Be and BeO species in the ablation plume. Time-of-flight plume composition analysis suggested that the target surface became Be metal rich at low oxygen pressures, reducing the growth rate of beryllia films.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Incorporation of La in epitaxial SrTiO{sub 3} thin films grown by atomic layer deposition on SrTiO{sub 3}-buffered Si (001) substrates

Strontium titanate, SrTiO{sub 3} (STO), thin films incorporated with lanthanum are grown on Si (001) substrates at a thickness range of 5–25 nm. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is used to grow the La{sub x}Sr{sub 1−x}TiO{sub 3} (La:STO) films after buffering the Si (001) substrate with four-unit-cells of STO deposited by molecular beam epitaxy. The crystalline structure and orientation of the La:STO films are confirmed via reflection high-energy electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The low temperature ALD growth (∼225 °C) and post-deposition annealing at 550 °C for 5 min maintains an abrupt interface between Si (001) and the crystalline oxide. Higher annealing temperatures (650 °C) show more complete La activation with film resistivities of ∼2.0 × 10{sup −2} Ω cm for 20-nm-thick La:STO (x ∼ 0.15); however, the STO-Si interface is slightly degraded due to the increased annealing temperature. To demonstrate the selective incorporation of lanthanum by ALD, a layered heterostructure is grown with an undoped STO layer sandwiched between two conductive La:STO layers. Based on this work, an epitaxial oxide stack centered on La:STO and BaTiO{sub 3} integrated with Si is envisioned as a material candidate for a ferroelectric field-effect transistor.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Testing epitaxial Co{sub 1.5}Fe{sub 1.5}Ge(001) electrodes in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions

The ability of the full Heusler alloy Co{sub 1.5}Fe{sub 1.5}Ge(001) (CFG) to be a Half-Metallic Magnetic (HMM) material is investigated. Epitaxial CFG(001) layers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The results obtained using electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism are consistent with the full Heusler structure. The pseudo-gap in the minority spin density of state typical in HMM is examined using spin-resolved photoemission. Interestingly, the spin polarization found to be negative at E{sub F} in equimolar CoFe(001) is observed to shift to positive values when inserting Ge in CoFe. However, no pseudo-gap is found at the Fermi level, even if moderate magnetization and low Gilbert damping are observed as expected in HMM materials. Magneto-transport properties in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions using CFG electrodes are investigated via spin and symmetry resolved photoemission.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Temperature and concentration dependent magnetic properties of epitaxial Fe{sub 1−x}Cr{sub x}-alloy films in the high Cr-concentration regime

Soft magnetic materials with a Curie temperature (T{sub c}) close to room temperature are suitable candidates for device applications and for more fundamental aspects of magnetism. Promising candidates are Fe{sub 1−x}Cr{sub x}-alloys with a Fe concentration of about 25%–35%. We have grown by molecular beam epitaxy methods a number of epitaxial Fe{sub 1−x}Cr{sub x} alloys on MgO[100] and MgO[110] substrates, and we report on their structural and magnetic properties in this concentration range, including the dependence of the Curie temperature (T{sub c}) on the concentration, the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, and the development of the magnetic moment.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Molecular beam epitaxial growth of a three-dimensional topological Dirac semimetal Na{sub 3}Bi

We report a molecular beam epitaxial growth of Na{sub 3}Bi single-crystal thin films on two different substrates—epitaxial bilayer graphene terminated 6H-SiC(0001) and Si(111). Using reflection high-energy electron diffraction, we found that the lattice orientation of the grown Na{sub 3}Bi thin film was rotated by 30° respect to the surface lattice orientations of these two substrates. An in-situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy clearly revealed the 3-dimensional Dirac-cone band structure in such thin films. Our approach of growing Na{sub 3}Bi thin film provides a potential route for further studying its intriguing electronic properties and for fabricating it into practical devices in future.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electronic phase diagram of epitaxial La{sub 1−x}Sr{sub x}FeO{sub 3} films

The electronic phase diagram of epitaxial La{sub 1−x}Sr{sub x}FeO{sub 3} films is presented. The films were grown on SrTiO{sub 3} using molecular beam epitaxy with post-growth annealing to minimize oxygen vacancies. Insulating behavior is observed from x = 0–0.9, with metallic conduction only present for x = 1.0. While the La-rich compounds exhibit polaron conduction over all temperatures measured, the Sr-rich films exhibit an electronic phase transition within the compositional window of x = 0.49–0.9 as revealed by temperature-dependent resistivity measurements. The transition temperatures are found to decrease with increasing Sr content. The constructed phase diagram is discussed in the context of other 3d e{sub g} perovskite systems including manganites and cobaltites.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Blinking suppression of CdTe quantum dots on epitaxial graphene and the analysis with Marcus electron transfer

We have prepared epitaxial graphene by a Si sublimation method from 4H-SiC. Single-particle spectroscopy of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) on epitaxial graphene covered with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) showed the suppression of luminescence blinking and ∼10 times decreased luminescence intensity as compared with those on a glass. The electronic coupling constant, H{sub 01}, between CdTe QDs and graphene was calculated to be (3.3 ± 0.4) × 10{sup 2 }cm{sup −1} in PVP and (3.7 ± 0.8) × 10{sup 2 }cm{sup −1} in PEG based on Marcus theory of electron transfer and Tang-Marcus model of blinking with statistical distribution.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Metallic transport and large anomalous Hall effect at room temperature in ferrimagnetic Mn{sub 4}N epitaxial thin film

We report the electrical transport properties of ferrimagnetic Mn{sub 4}N (001) epitaxial thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition on MgO (001) substrates. The Mn{sub 4}N thin films were tetragonally distorted with a ratio of out-of-plane to in-plane lattice constants of 0.987 and showed perpendicular magnetic anisotropy with an effective magnetic anisotropy constant of 0.16 MJ/m{sup 3}, which is comparable with that of a recently reported molecular-beam-epitaxy-grown film. The thin films exhibited metallic transport with a room temperature resistivity of 125 μΩ cm in addition to a large anomalous Hall effect with a Hall angle tangent of 0.023.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

On the local electronic and atomic structure of Ce 1-x Pr x O 2-δ epitaxial films on Si

The local electronic and atomic structure of (111)-oriented, single crystalline mixed Ce 1-x Pr x O 2-δ (x = 0, 0.1 and 0.6) epitaxial thin films on silicon substrates have been investigated in view of engineering redox properties of complex oxide films. Non-destructive X-ray absorption near edge structure reveals that Pr shows only +3 valence and Ce shows only nominal +4 valence in mixed oxides. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies were performed at K edges of Ce and Pr using a specially designed monochromator system for high energy measurements. They demonstrate that the fluorite lattice of ceria (CeO₂) is almost not perturbed for x = 0.1 sample, while higher Pr concentration (x = 0.6) not only generates a higher disorder level (thus more disordered oxygen) but also causes a significant reduction of Ce–O interatomic distances. The valence states of the cations were also examined by techniques operating in highly reducing environments: scanning transmission electron microscopy-electron energy loss spectroscopy and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy; in these reducing environments, evidence for the presence of Ce³⁺ was clearly found for the higher Pr concentration. Thus, the introduction of Pr³⁺ into CeO₂ strongly enhances the oxygen exchange properties of CeO₂. This improved oxygen mobility properties of CeO₂ are attributed to the lattice disorder induced by Pr mixing in the CeO₂ fluorite lattice, as demonstrated by EXAFS measurements. Thus, a comprehensive picture of the modifications of the atomic and electronic structure of Ce 1-x Pr x O 2-δ epitaxial films and their relation is obtained.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Pulsed laser deposition of epitaxial yttrium iron garnet films with low Gilbert damping and bulk-like magnetization

Yttrium iron garnet (YIG, Y {sub 3}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12}) films have been epitaxially grown on Gadolinium Gallium Garnet (GGG, Gd{sub 3}Ga{sub 5}O{sub 12}) substrates with (100) orientation using pulsed laser deposition. The films were single-phase, epitaxial with the GGG substrate, and the root-mean-square surface roughness varied between 0.14 nm and 0.2 nm. Films with thicknesses ranging from 17 to 200 nm exhibited low coercivity (<2 Oe), near-bulk room temperature saturation moments (∼135 emu cm{sup −3}), in-plane easy axis, and damping parameters as low as 2.2 × 10{sup −4}. These high quality YIG thin films are useful in the investigation of the origins of novel magnetic phenomena and magnetization dynamics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetic anisotropies in epitaxial Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}/GaAs(100) patterned structures

Previous studies on epitaxial Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} rings in the context of spin-transfer torque effect have revealed complicated and undesirable domain structures, attributed to the intrinsic fourfold magnetocrystalline anisotropy in the ferrite. In this Letter, we report a viable solution to this problem, utilizing a 6-nm-thick epitaxial Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} thin film on GaAs(100), where the fourfold magnetocrystalline anisotropy is negligible. We demonstrate that in the Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} planar wires patterned from our thin film, such a unique magnetic anisotropy system has been preserved, and relatively simple magnetic domain configurations compared to those previous reports can be obtained.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tunable electronic structure in dilute magnetic semiconductor Sr{sub 3}SnO/c-YSZ/Si (001) epitaxial heterostructures

We report a systematic study of the structural, physical, and chemical properties of epitaxial thin films of emerging dilute magnetic semiconductor (DMS) Sr{sub 3}SnO (SSO) integrated with Si (100) prepared by various post-growth annealing treatments. The transport properties of these films are primarily governed by oxygen vacancies and the results are explained with the variable-range hopping model. The increased oxygen vacancy concentration generated by post-growth vacuum annealing results in a shorter hopping distance and reduced hopping energy and Coulomb gap, leading to lower resistivity; oxygen annealing shows the opposite effects. The work function ranges from 4.54 to 4.02 eV and shows a negative linear relationship with oxygen vacancy concentration, accompanied by a 0.42 eV shift in the surface Fermi level. The transport and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy probes agree quantitatively on measurement of the resistivity and surface electronic structure. The results provide a direct and consistent explanation that the property changes in the bulk and at the surface are primarily attributed to oxygen vacancies, which are believed to be the carriers in the SSO thin films. The ability to manipulate the work function and oxygen vacancy concentration in epitaxial DMS SSO thin films offers great potential for the development of spintronic devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗