Jayakanth Ravichandran

Crossover from incoherent to coherent phonon scattering in epitaxial oxide superlattices

Elementary particles such as electrons or photons are frequent subjects of wave-nature-driven investigations, unlike collective excitations such as phonons. The demonstration of wave-particle crossover, in terms of macroscopic properties, is crucial to the understanding and application of the wave behaviour of matter. We present an unambiguous demonstration of the theoretically predicted crossover from diffuse (particle-like) to specular (wave-like) phonon scattering in epitaxial oxide superlattices, manifested by a minimum in lattice thermal conductivity as a function of interface density. We do so by synthesizing superlattices of electrically insulating perovskite oxides and systematically varying the interface density, with unit-cell precision, using two different epitaxial-growth techniques. These observations open up opportunities for studies on the wave nature of phonons, particularly phonon interference effects, using oxide superlattices as model systems, with extensive applications in thermoelectrics and thermal management.

Built-in and induced polarization across LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterojunctions

Ionic crystals terminated at oppositely charged polar surfaces are inherently unstable and expected to undergo surface reconstructions to maintain electrostatic stability. Essentially, an electric field that arises between oppositely charged atomic planes gives rise to a built-in potential that diverges with thickness. Here we present evidence of such a built-in potential across polar LaAlO{sub 3} thin films grown on SrTiO{sub 3} substrates, a system well known for the electron gas that forms at the interface. By performing tunneling measurements between the electron gas and metallic electrodes on LaAlO{sub 3} we measure a built-in electric field across LaAlO{sub 3} of 80.1 meV/{angstrom}. Additionally, capacitance measurements reveal the presence of an induced dipole moment across the heterostructure. We forsee use of the ionic built-in potential as an additional tuning parameter in both existing and novel device architectures, especially as atomic control of oxide interfaces gains widespread momentum.

Room-temperature negative capacitance in a ferroelectric-dielectric superlattice heterostructure.

We demonstrate room-temperature negative capacitance in a ferroelectric-dielectric superlattice heterostructure. In epitaxially grown superlattice of ferroelectric BSTO (Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3) and dielectric LAO (LaAlO3), capacitance was found to be larger compared to the constituent LAO (dielectric) capacitance. This enhancement of capacitance in a series combination of two capacitors indicates that the ferroelectric was stabilized in a state of negative capacitance. Negative capacitance was observed for superlattices grown on three different substrates (SrTiO3 (001), DyScO3 (110), and GdScO3 (110)) covering a large range of substrate strain. This demonstrates the robustness of the effect as well as potential for controlling the negative capacitance effect using epitaxial strain. Room-temperature demonstration of negative capacitance is an important step toward lowering the subthreshold swing in a transistor below the intrinsic thermodynamic limit of 60 mV/decade and thereby improving energy efficiency.

High-temperature thermoelectric response of double-doped SrTiO3 epitaxial films

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Thermal conductivity as a metric for the crystalline quality of SrTiO3 epitaxial layers

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A novel polymer nanotube composite for photovoltaic packaging applications.

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Tuning the electronic effective mass in double-doped SrTiO3

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An apparatus for simultaneous measurement of electrical conductivity and thermopower of thin films in the temperature range of 300-750 K

-type oxide semiconductor for thermoelectric energy conversion. Epitaxial thin films of SrTiO

Bandgap Control via Structural and Chemical Tuning of Transition Metal Perovskite Chalcogenides.

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Size effects on thermoelectricity in a strongly correlated oxide

doped with both La and oxygen vacancies have been synthesized by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The thermoelectric and galvanomagnetic properties of these films have been characterized at temperatures ranging from 300 K to 900 K and are typical of a doped semiconductor. Thermopower values of double-doped films are comparable to previous studies of La doped single crystals at similar carrier concentrations. The highest thermoelectric figure of merit (