Peter K. Petrov

Experimental Observation of Negative Capacitance in Ferroelectrics at Room Temperature

Effective negative capacitance has been postulated in ferroelectrics because there is a hysteresis in plots of polarization-electric field. Compelling experimental evidence of effective negative capacitance is presented here at room temperature in engineered devices, where it is stabilized by the presence of a paraelectric material. In future integrated circuits, the incorporation of such negative capacitance into MOSFET gate stacks would reduce the subthreshold slope, enabling low power operation and reduced self-heating.

Optimised pulsed laser deposition of ZnO thin films on transparent conducting substrates

The growth of polycrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on indium tin oxide (ITO) is reported. For the first time the influence of deposition temperature over an extended range (50–650 °C) is investigated on ITO. We describe the role of temperature on the optical and crystalline properties of the deposited films, of 120–250 nm thickness. Additionally, the effect of the background oxygen pressure is reported. Under all of the deposition conditions highly textured c-axis oriented, transparent (>85%) and low roughness (RMS < 10 nm) ZnO films are formed. Growth temperatures ≥450 °C lead to the highest degree of crystallinity and film quality with measured full width half maximum (FWHM) of X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks as small as 0.14°2θ. XRD measurements of films grown at <350 °C show a shift in the (002) diffraction peak to lower 2θ values, indicating that the deposited films are oxygen deficient. Increasing the oxygen pressure results in the preparation of stoichiometric films at temperatures as low as 50 °C. We demonstrate that in addition to forming high quality ZnO, the optical and electronic properties of ITO can be preserved—even at high temperature—presenting a methodology for preparing highly crystalline ZnO on ITO over a temperature window significantly larger than that of previous literature reports. Furthermore, the low temperature processing opens up the possibility of deposition on a wide range of substrates, especially those unsuitable for exposure to high temperatures.

Inhibition of TNF-α Reverses the Pathological Resorption Pit Profile of Osteoclasts from Patients with Acute Charcot Osteoarthropathy.

We hypothesised that tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) may enhance receptor activator of nuclear factor-κβ ligand- (RANKL-) mediated osteoclastogenesis in acute Charcot osteoarthropathy. Peripheral blood monocytes were isolated from 10 acute Charcot patients, 8 diabetic patients, and 9 healthy control subjects and cultured in vitro on plastic and bone discs. Osteoclast formation and resorption were assessed after treatment with (1) macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) and RANKL and (2) M-CSF, RANKL, and neutralising antibody to TNF-α (anti-TNF-α). Resorption was measured on the surface of bone discs by image analysis and under the surface using surface profilometry. Although osteoclast formation was similar in M-CSF + RANKL-treated cultures between the groups (p > 0.05), there was a significant increase in the area of resorption on the surface (p < 0.01) and under the surface (p < 0.01) in Charcot patients compared with diabetic patients and control subjects. The addition of anti-TNF-α resulted in a significant reduction in the area of resorption on the surface (p < 0.05) and under the surface (p < 0.05) only in Charcot patients as well as a normalisation of the aberrant erosion profile. We conclude that TNF-α modulates RANKL-mediated osteoclastic resorption in vitro in patients with acute Charcot osteoarthropathy.

Optimizing Strontium Ruthenate Thin Films for Near-Infrared Plasmonic Applications

Several new plasmonic materials have recently been introduced in order to achieve better temperature stability than conventional plasmonic metals and control field localization with a choice of plasma frequencies in a wide spectral range. Here, epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films with low surface roughness fabricated by pulsed laser deposition are studied. The influence of the oxygen deposition pressure (20–300 mTorr) on the charge carrier dynamics and optical constants of the thin films in the near-infrared spectral range is elucidated. It is demonstrated that SrRuO3 thin films exhibit plasmonic behavior of the thin films in the near-infrared spectral range with the plasma frequency in 3.16–3.86 eV range and epsilon-near-zero wavelength in 1.11–1.47 μm range that could be controlled by the deposition conditions. The possible applications of these films range from the heat-generating nanostructures in the near-infrared spectral range, to metamaterial-based ideal absorbers and epsilon-near-zero components, where the interplay between real and imaginary parts of the permittivity in a given spectral range is needed for optimizing the spectral performance.

Effect of ultraviolet radiation on slow-relaxation processes in ferroelectric capacitance structures

The effects of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation on the relaxation processes in Ba0.3Sr0.7TiO3 thin film capacitors were experimentally investigated in a range of wavelengths λ=(310–400) nm. It was observed that irradiation with a specific wavelength reduces the time of slow capacitance relaxation up to three orders of magnitude in comparison with relaxation time in the “dark” regime. It was also observed that at a certain wavelength of UV irradiation there was a maximum in the leakage current of the capacitors. This wavelength corresponded exactly with a minimum in the relaxation time of the capacitance. It was shown that the decrease in the ferroelectric film thickness resulted in a shift in τ(λ)minima and I(λ)maxima towards the shorter wavelengths. Phenomena observed are analyzed using Bouguer’s law.

Ferroelectric properties in thin film barium titanate grown using pulsed laser deposition

The characteristics of polycrystalline BaTiO3 metal-insulator-metal capacitors, fabricated using pulsed laser deposition, are investigated from room temperature to 420 K. The capacitance–voltage characteristics show ferroelectric behaviour at room temperature, with a phase transition to paraelectric at higher temperature. However, the permittivity response shows paraelectric behaviour across all measured temperatures. So BaTiO3 exists here in a mixture of cubic and tetragonal phases. The BaTiO3 films have a columnar structure, with grain size increasing with film thickness due to their increasing height but not diameter. This correlates with an increase in remnant polarization. The results support a size driven phase transition in thin films of polycrystalline BaTiO3.

Obtaining strong ferromagnetism in diluted Gd-doped ZnO thin films through controlled Gd-defect complexes

We demonstrate the fabrication of reproducible long-range ferromagnetism (FM) in highly crystalline GdxZn1−xO thin films by controlling the defects. Films are grown on lattice-matched substrates by pulsed laser deposition at low oxygen pressures (≤25 mTorr) and low Gd concentrations (x ≤ 0.009). These films feature strong FM (10 μB per Gd atom) at room temperature. While films deposited at higher oxygen pressure do not exhibit FM, FM is recovered by post-annealing these films under vacuum. These findings reveal the contribution of oxygen deficiency defects to the long-range FM. We demonstrate the possible FM mechanisms, which are confirmed by density functional theory study, and show that Gd dopants are essential for establishing FM that is induced by intrinsic defects in these films.

Anomalous resistive switching phenomenon

Resistive switching was observed in Pt/SrTiO3/Pt capacitor devices. The switching depends on both the amplitude and polarity of the applied voltage and cannot be described as either bipolar or unipolar resistive switching. We term this behavior antipolar due to the opposite polarity of the set voltage relative to the previous reset voltage. A model based on electron injection by tunneling at interfaces and a Poole-Frenkel mechanism through the bulk is proposed. This model is quantified by use of a simple mathematical equation to simulate the experimental results.

Antiphase boundaries in Ba0.75Sr0.25TiO3 epitaxial film grown on (001) LaAlO3 substrate

Ba0.75Sr0.25TiO3 film was epitaxially grown on a (001) LaAlO3 substrate using single-target pulsed laser deposition. The microstructure of the epitaxial film was investigated by conventional and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Apart from dislocations and stacking faults, two different kinds of antiphase boundaries, one being straight, and the other being zig-zagged, have been observed. The formation mechanism of these antiphase boundaries is discussed.

Evaluation of the space charge trap energy levels in the ferroelectric films

A method to evaluate the space charge trap energy levels in ferroelectric (FE) Ba0.3Sr0.7TiO3 film incorporated into a metal/FE/metal parallel plate capacitors structure is presented. It is based on microwave measurements of the capacitance relaxation time after the end of a dc pulse, when the change in measured capacitance is due to internal processes of space charge relaxation [Q(t)] in the FE film. Using the Q(t) dependencies obtained as a function of temperature, the time constants of slow relaxation processes were defined and the trap energy levels were evaluated as Et=0.7, 0.5, and 0.1 eV.