Woo Seok Choi

Multiple conducting carriers generated in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures

We have found that there is more than one type of conducting carriers generated in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures by comparing the sheet carrier density and mobility from optical transmission spectroscopy with those from dc-transport measurements. When multiple types of carriers exist, optical characterization dominantly reflects the contribution from the high-density carriers whereas dc-transport measurements may exaggerate the contribution of the high-mobility carriers even though they are present at low density. Since the low-temperature mobility determined by dc-transport in the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures is much higher than that extracted by optical method, we attribute the origin of high-mobility transport to the low-density conducting carriers.

Localized electronic states induced by defects and possible origin of ferroelectricity in strontium titanate thin films

Several defect configurations including oxygen vacancies have been investigated as possible origins of the reported room-temperature ferroelectricity of strontium titanate (STO) thin films [Y. S. Kim et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 042908 (2007)]. First-principles calculations revealed that the Sr–O–O vacancy complexes create deep localized states in the band gap of SrTiO3 without affecting its insulating property. These results are consistent with electronic structural changes determined from optical transmission and x-ray absorption measurements. Our work suggests importance of oxygen vacancies and their complexes in understanding of electronic properties of perovskite oxide thin films, including STO.

Electronic structures of hexagonal R Mn O 3 ( R = Gd , Tb, Dy, and Ho) thin films: Optical spectroscopy and first-principles calculations

We investigated the electronic structure of multiferroic hexagonal RMnO3 (R = Gd, Tb, Dy, and Ho) thin films using both optical spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. Using artificially stabilized hexagonal RMnO3, we extended the optical spectroscopic studies on the hexagonal multiferroic manganite system. We observed two optical transitions located near 1.7 eV and 2.3 eV, in addition to the predominant absorption above 5 eV. With the help of first-principles calculations, we attribute the low-lying optical absorption peaks to inter-site transitions from the oxygen states hybridized strongly with different Mn orbital symmetries to the Mn 3d3z2-r2 state. As the ionic radius of the rare earth ion increased, the lowest peak showed a systematic increase in its peak position. We explained this systematic change in terms of a flattening of the MnO5 triangular bipyramid.

Charge states and magnetic ordering in LaMnO3/SrTiO3 superlattices

We investigated the magnetic and optical properties of [(LaMnO{sub 3}){sub n}/(SrTiO{sub 3}){sub 8}]{sub 20} (n = 1, 2, and 8) superlattices grown by pulsed-laser deposition. We found that a weak ferromagnetic and semiconducting state developed in all superlattices. An analysis of the optical conductivity showed that the LaMnO{sub 3} layers in the superlattices were slightly doped. The amount of doping was almost identical regardless of the LaMnO{sub 3} layer thickness up to eight unit cells, suggesting that the effect is not limited to the interface. On the other hand, the magnetic ordering became less stable as the LaMnO{sub 3} layer thickness decreased, probably due to a dimensional effect.

Control of defect-mediated tunneling barrier heights in ultrathin MgO films

The impact of oxygen vacancies on local tunneling properties across rf-sputtered MgO thin films was investigated by optical absorption spectroscopy and conducting atomic force microscopy. Adding O2 to the Ar plasma during MgO growth alters the oxygen defect populations, leading to improved local tunneling characteristics such as a lower density of current hotspots and a lower tunnel current amplitude. We discuss a defect-based potential landscape across ultrathin MgO barriers.

Effects of oxygen-reducing atmosphere annealing on LaMnO3 epitaxial thin films

We investigated the effects of annealing on LaMnO3 epitaxial thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and propose an efficient method of characterizing their stoichiometry. Structural, magnetic and optical properties coherently indicate non-stoichiometric ferromagnetic and semiconducting phases for as-grown LaMnO3 films. By annealing in an oxygen-reducing atmosphere, we recovered the antiferromagnetic and insulating phases of bulk-like stoichiometric LaMnO3. We show that non-destructive optical spectroscopy at room temperature is one of the most convenient tools for identifying the phases of LaMnO3 films. Our results serve as a prerequisite for studying LaMnO3 based heterostructures grown by PLD.

Optical spectroscopic investigation on the coupling of electronic and magnetic structure in multiferroic hexagonal R MnO 3 ( R = Gd , Tb, Dy, and Ho) thin films

We investigated the effects of temperature and magnetic field on the electronic structure of hexagonal

Influence of High Temperature Postdeposition Annealing on the Atomic Configuration in Amorphous In–Ga–Zn–O Films

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Composition-dependent polarization switching behaviors of (111)-preferred polycrystalline Pb(ZrxTi1−x)O3 thin films

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Resistance switching in epitaxial SrCoOx thin films

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