Thickness-dependent microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial (00.1) CuFeO2 thin films on (00.1) sapphire by pulsed laser deposition
Typical low-temperature frustrated triangular antiferromagnet CuFeO2 is attracting extensive interest due to its narrow-band-gap semiconductor properties. High-quality and impurity-free CuFeO2 epitaxial thin films would be preferable for fundamental studies on the physical and chemical properties. H...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2020
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143947 |
| _version_ | 1811690994953879552 |
|---|---|
| author | Luo, Sijun Fluri, Aline Zhang, Song Liu, Xue Döbeli, Max Harrington, George F. Tu, Rong Pergolesi, Daniele Ishihara, Tasumi Lippert, Thomas |
| author2 | School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Luo, Sijun Fluri, Aline Zhang, Song Liu, Xue Döbeli, Max Harrington, George F. Tu, Rong Pergolesi, Daniele Ishihara, Tasumi Lippert, Thomas |
| author_sort | Luo, Sijun |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Typical low-temperature frustrated triangular antiferromagnet CuFeO2 is attracting extensive interest due to its narrow-band-gap semiconductor properties. High-quality and impurity-free CuFeO2 epitaxial thin films would be preferable for fundamental studies on the physical and chemical properties. However, the heteroepitaxial growth of impurity-free CuFeO2 thin films has been a significant challenge due to its narrow formation window in the Cu–Fe–O system as well as the metastable nature of the Cu1+ cations. This work reports for the first time the fabrication and characterization of high-quality and impurity-free (00.1)-oriented CuFeO2 epitaxial thin films grown with relaxed interfaces on (00.1) sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Below the critical thickness of around 16 nm, the films exhibit a rhombohedral structure with relatively good crystalline quality where all Cu ions appear to be in the 1+ oxidation state, while the rocking curves display a narrow full width at half maximum of about 0.11°. Increasing the thickness, the (111)-oriented γ-Fe2O3 nanograins grow embedded in the CuFeO2 films. Here, an excess Fe3+-assisted growth mechanism is proposed to explain the iron oxide grain formation. This study provides insight into the heteroepitaxial growth of relaxed CuFeO2 thin films with high purity and crystalline quality as an ideal sample design to characterize the fundamental properties of this material in view of potential device applications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:12:51Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/143947 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:12:51Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1439472023-02-28T19:51:53Z Thickness-dependent microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial (00.1) CuFeO2 thin films on (00.1) sapphire by pulsed laser deposition Luo, Sijun Fluri, Aline Zhang, Song Liu, Xue Döbeli, Max Harrington, George F. Tu, Rong Pergolesi, Daniele Ishihara, Tasumi Lippert, Thomas School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Science::Physics CuFeO2 Thin Films Typical low-temperature frustrated triangular antiferromagnet CuFeO2 is attracting extensive interest due to its narrow-band-gap semiconductor properties. High-quality and impurity-free CuFeO2 epitaxial thin films would be preferable for fundamental studies on the physical and chemical properties. However, the heteroepitaxial growth of impurity-free CuFeO2 thin films has been a significant challenge due to its narrow formation window in the Cu–Fe–O system as well as the metastable nature of the Cu1+ cations. This work reports for the first time the fabrication and characterization of high-quality and impurity-free (00.1)-oriented CuFeO2 epitaxial thin films grown with relaxed interfaces on (00.1) sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Below the critical thickness of around 16 nm, the films exhibit a rhombohedral structure with relatively good crystalline quality where all Cu ions appear to be in the 1+ oxidation state, while the rocking curves display a narrow full width at half maximum of about 0.11°. Increasing the thickness, the (111)-oriented γ-Fe2O3 nanograins grow embedded in the CuFeO2 films. Here, an excess Fe3+-assisted growth mechanism is proposed to explain the iron oxide grain formation. This study provides insight into the heteroepitaxial growth of relaxed CuFeO2 thin films with high purity and crystalline quality as an ideal sample design to characterize the fundamental properties of this material in view of potential device applications. Published version The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER), sponsored by the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), MEXT, Japan. The authors acknowledge the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland, for support to this work. 2020-10-02T06:07:57Z 2020-10-02T06:07:57Z 2020 Journal Article Luo, S., Fluri, A., Zhang, S., Liu, X., Döbeli, M., Harrington, G. F., . . . Lippert, T. (2020). Thickness-dependent microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial (00.1) CuFeO2 thin films on (00.1) sapphire by pulsed laser deposition. Journal of Applied Physics, 127(6), 065301-. doi:10.1063/1.5140451 0021-8979 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143947 10.1063/1.5140451 6 127 en Journal of Applied Physics © 2020 The Author(s). All rights reserved. This paper was published by AIP Publishing in Journal of Applied Physics and is made available with permission of The Author(s). application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Science::Physics CuFeO2 Thin Films Luo, Sijun Fluri, Aline Zhang, Song Liu, Xue Döbeli, Max Harrington, George F. Tu, Rong Pergolesi, Daniele Ishihara, Tasumi Lippert, Thomas Thickness-dependent microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial (00.1) CuFeO2 thin films on (00.1) sapphire by pulsed laser deposition |
| title | Thickness-dependent microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial (00.1) CuFeO2 thin films on (00.1) sapphire by pulsed laser deposition |
| title_full | Thickness-dependent microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial (00.1) CuFeO2 thin films on (00.1) sapphire by pulsed laser deposition |
| title_fullStr | Thickness-dependent microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial (00.1) CuFeO2 thin films on (00.1) sapphire by pulsed laser deposition |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thickness-dependent microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial (00.1) CuFeO2 thin films on (00.1) sapphire by pulsed laser deposition |
| title_short | Thickness-dependent microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial (00.1) CuFeO2 thin films on (00.1) sapphire by pulsed laser deposition |
| title_sort | thickness dependent microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial 00 1 cufeo2 thin films on 00 1 sapphire by pulsed laser deposition |
| topic | Science::Physics CuFeO2 Thin Films |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143947 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT luosijun thicknessdependentmicrostructuralpropertiesofheteroepitaxial001cufeo2thinfilmson001sapphirebypulsedlaserdeposition AT flurialine thicknessdependentmicrostructuralpropertiesofheteroepitaxial001cufeo2thinfilmson001sapphirebypulsedlaserdeposition AT zhangsong thicknessdependentmicrostructuralpropertiesofheteroepitaxial001cufeo2thinfilmson001sapphirebypulsedlaserdeposition AT liuxue thicknessdependentmicrostructuralpropertiesofheteroepitaxial001cufeo2thinfilmson001sapphirebypulsedlaserdeposition AT dobelimax thicknessdependentmicrostructuralpropertiesofheteroepitaxial001cufeo2thinfilmson001sapphirebypulsedlaserdeposition AT harringtongeorgef thicknessdependentmicrostructuralpropertiesofheteroepitaxial001cufeo2thinfilmson001sapphirebypulsedlaserdeposition AT turong thicknessdependentmicrostructuralpropertiesofheteroepitaxial001cufeo2thinfilmson001sapphirebypulsedlaserdeposition AT pergolesidaniele thicknessdependentmicrostructuralpropertiesofheteroepitaxial001cufeo2thinfilmson001sapphirebypulsedlaserdeposition AT ishiharatasumi thicknessdependentmicrostructuralpropertiesofheteroepitaxial001cufeo2thinfilmson001sapphirebypulsedlaserdeposition AT lippertthomas thicknessdependentmicrostructuralpropertiesofheteroepitaxial001cufeo2thinfilmson001sapphirebypulsedlaserdeposition |