Chunrui Ma

Interface engineered BaTiO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures with optimized high-frequency dielectric properties

Interface engineered BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃ heterostructures were epitaxially grown on (001) MgO substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Microstructural characterizations by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy indicate that the as-grown heterostructures are c-axis oriented with sharp interfaces. The interface relationships between the substrate and multilayered structures were determined to be [001](SrTiO₃)//[001](BaTiO₃)//[001](MgO) and (100)(SrTiO₃)//(100)(BaTiO₃)//(100)(MgO). The high-frequency microwave (∼18 GHz) dielectric measurements reveal that the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the nanolayered heterostructures are highly dependent upon the stacking period numbers and layer thicknesses. With the increase in the periodic number, or the decrease in each layer thickness, the dielectric constant dramatically increases and the dielectric loss tangent rapidly decreases. The strong interface effect were found when the combination period is larger than 16, or each STO layer is less than 6.0 nm. The optimized dielectric performance was achieved with the best value for the loss tangent (0.02) and the dielectric constant (1320), which suggests that the BTO/STO heterostructures be promising for the development of the room-temperature tunable microwave elements.

Magnetic and Electrical Transport Properties of LaBaCo2O5.5+δ Thin Films on Vicinal (001) SrTiO3 Surfaces

Highly epitaxial LaBaCo(2)O(5.5+δ) thin films were grown on the vicinal (001) SrTiO(3) substrates with miscut angles of 0.5°, 3.0°, and 5.0° to systemically study strain effect on its physical properties. The electronic transport properties and magnetic behaviors of these films are strongly dependent on the miscut angles. With increasing the miscut angle, the transport property of the film changes from semiconducting to semimetallic, which results most probably from the locally strained domains induced by the surface step terraces. In addition, a very large magnetoresistance (34% at 60 K) was achieved for the 0.5°-miscut film, which is ~30% larger than that for the film grown on the regular (001) SrTiO(3) substrates.

Magnetic and transport properties of epitaxial (LaBa)Co2O5.5+δ thin films on (001) SrTiO3

The (LaBa)Co2O5+δ thin films were grown on (001) SrTiO3 single crystal substrates by using pulsed laser deposition. Microstructure studies from x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy show that the films have good epitaxial quality with a-axis orientation and sharp atomic interface. Transport property and isothermal magnetoresistance measurements have been used to understand the physical properties of the films with anomalous magnetic phenomena and the largest reported magnetoresistance value of 19% at 40 K.

Ultrahigh Energy Storage Performance of Lead‐Free Oxide Multilayer Film Capacitors via Interface Engineering

Ultrahigh energy storage density of 52.4 J cm-3 with optimistic efficiency of 72.3% is achieved by interface engineering of epitaxial lead-free oxide multilayers at room temperature. Moreover, the excellent thermal stability of the performances provides solid basis for widespread applications of the thin film systems in modern electronic and power modules in harsh working environments.

Giant Magnetoresistance and Anomalous Magnetic Properties of Highly Epitaxial Ferromagnetic LaBaCo2O5.5+δ Thin Films on (001) MgO

Ferromagnetic thin films of the A-site nano-ordered double perovskite LaBaCo(2)O(5.5+δ) (LBCO) were grown on (001) MgO, and their structural and magnetic properties were characterized. The as-grown films have an excellent epitaxial behavior with atomically sharp interfaces, with the c-axis of the LBCO structure lying in the film plane and the interface relationship given by (100)(LBCO)//(001)(MgO) and [001](LBCO)//[100](MgO) or [010](MgO). The as-grown LBCO films exhibit a giant magnetoresistance (54% at 40 K under 7 T) and an anomalous magnetic hysteresis, depending strongly on the temperature and the applied magnetic field scan width.

Controlling dielectric and relaxor-ferroelectric properties for energy storage by tuning Pb0.92La0.08Zr0.52Ti0.48O3 film thickness.

The energy storage properties of Pb0.92La0.08Zr0.52Ti0.48O3 (PLZT) films grown via pulsed laser deposition were evaluated at variable film thickness of 125, 250, 500, and 1000 nm. These films show high dielectric permittivity up to ∼1200. Cyclic I-V measurements were used to evaluate the dielectric properties of these thin films, which not only provide the total electric displacement, but also separate contributions from each of the relevant components including electric conductivity (D1), dielectric capacitance (D2), and relaxor-ferroelectric domain switching polarization (P). The results show that, as the film thickness increases, the material transits from a linear dielectric to nonlinear relaxor-ferroelectric. While the energy storage per volume increases with the film thickness, the energy storage efficiency drops from ∼80% to ∼30%. The PLZT films can be optimized for different energy storage applications by tuning the film thickness to optimize between the linear and nonlinear dielectric properties and energy storage efficiency.

Interface Effects on the Electronic Transport Properties in Highly Epitaxial LaBaCo2O5.5+δ Films

Single-crystalline perovskite LaBaCo2O5.5+δ thin films were grown on a (110) NdGaO3 single-crystal substrate in order to systematically investigate the effect of lattice mismatch on the electrical transport properties in comparison to the films on LaAlO3, SrTiO3, and MgO substrates. Microstructure studies reveal that all of the LaBaCo2O5.5+δ films are of excellent quality with atomically sharp interface structures. The electrical and magnetic transport property studies indicate that the resistivity, magnetoresistance, and magnetic moment of the film are very sensitive to the substrate materials because of the lattice mismatch/interface strain. The Curie temperature, however, is almost independent of the strain imposed by the substrate, probably because of the strong coupling between the nanodomain boundary and interface strain.

Ultrafast atomic layer-by-layer oxygen vacancy-exchange diffusion in double-perovskite LnBaCo2O5.5+δ thin films.

Surface exchange and oxygen vacancy diffusion dynamics were studied in double-perovskites LnBaCo2O5.5+δ (LnBCO) single-crystalline thin films (Ln = Er, Pr; −0.5 < δ < 0.5) by carefully monitoring the resistance changes under a switching flow of oxidizing gas (O2) and reducing gas (H2) in the temperature range of 250 ~ 800°C. A giant resistance change ΔR by three to four orders of magnitude in less than 0.1 s was found with a fast oscillation behavior in the resistance change rates in the ΔR vs. t plots, suggesting that the oxygen vacancy exchange diffusion with oxygen/hydrogen atoms in the LnBCO thin films is taking the layer by layer oxygen-vacancy-exchange mechanism. The first principles density functional theory calculations indicate that hydrogen atoms are present in LnBCO as bound to oxygen forming O-H bonds. This unprecedented oscillation phenomenon provides the first direct experimental evidence of the layer by layer oxygen vacancy exchange diffusion mechanism.

Thickness effects on the magnetic and electrical transport properties of highly epitaxial LaBaCo2O5.5+δ thin films on MgO substrates

The transport properties of double perovskite LaBaCo2O5.5+δ thin films with different thicknesses were systemically studied. A thin (7 nm in thickness), disordered LaBaCo2O5.5+δ layer was formed at the interface between the film and substrate. The films had a typical semiconductor behavior with antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic behavior coexisting at low temperature. Although the Curie temperature was independent of the film thickness, the coercive fields and magnetizations increase with increasing the film thickness. An ultra large magnetoresistance effect value of about 44% was obtained at 60 K for the film of 82 nm.

Step terrace tuned anisotropic transport properties of highly epitaxial LaBaCo2O5.5+δ thin films on vicinal SrTiO3 substrates.

Highly epitaxial LaBaCo2O5.5+δ (LBCO) thin films were grown on different miscut (001) SrTiO3 substrates (miscut angle of 0.5°, 3.0°, and 5.0°) to study the substrate surface step terrace effect on the in-plane electrical transport properties. The microstructure studies by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy indicate that the as-grown films are A-site disordered cubic perovskite structures with the c-axis highly oriented along the film growth direction. The four-probe scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies show that the LBCO thin films grown on the vicinal SrTiO3 substrates have a typical semiconductor behavior with the substrate surface terrace step inducing anisotropic electronic transport properties. These results indicate that in highly epitaxial thin films the surface terrace step induced local strains can play an important role in controlling the electronic transport properties and the anisotropic nature.