Search

The long search for nontoxic alternatives to lead halide perovskites (LHPs) has shown that some compelling properties of LHPs, such as low effective masses of carriers, can only be attained in their closest Sn(II) and Ge(II) analogues, despite their tendency toward oxidation. Judicious choice of chemistry allowed formamidinium tin iodide (FASnI3) to reach a power conversion efficiency of 14.81% in photovoltaic devices. This progress motivated us to develop a synthesis of colloidal FASnI3 NCs with a concentration of Sn(IV) reduced to an insignificant level and to probe their intrinsic structural and optical properties. Intrinsic FASnI3 NCs exhibit unusually low absorption coefficients of 4 × 103 cm-1 at the first excitonic transition, a 190 meV increase of the band gap as compared to the bulk material, and a lack of excitonic resonances. These features are attributed to a highly disordered lattice, distinct from the bulk FASnI3 as supported by structural characterizations and first-principles calculations., Nano Letters, 23 (5), ISSN:1530-6984, ISSN:1530-6992

Thin films generally contain depth-dependent residual stress gradients, which influence their functional properties and stability in harsh environments. An understanding of these stress gradients and their influence is crucial for many applications. Standard methods for thin-film stress determination only provide average strain values, thus disregarding possible variation in strain/stress across the film thickness. This work introduces a new method to derive depth-dependent strain profiles in thin films with thicknesses in the submicrometre range by laboratory-based in-plane grazing X-ray diffraction, as applied to magnetron-sputtering-grown polycrystalline Cu thin films with different thicknesses. By performing in-plane grazing diffraction analysis at different incidence angles, the in-plane lattice constant depth profile of the thin film can be resolved through a dedicated robust data processing procedure. Owing to the underlying intrinsic difficulties related to the inverse Laplace transform of discrete experimental data sets, four complementary procedures are presented to reliably extract the strain depth profile of the films from the diffraction data. Surprisingly, the strain depth profile is not monotonic and possesses a complex shape: highly compressive close to the substrate interface, more tensile within the film and relaxed close to the film surface. The same strain profile is obtained by the four different data evaluation methods, confirming the validity of the derived depth-dependent strain profiles as a function of the film thickness. Comparison of the obtained results with the average in-plane stresses independently derived by the standard stress analysis method in the out-of-plane diffraction geometry validates the solidity of the proposed method.

During the annealing of Ni and Ni-Mo films, a {110} texture, usually considered to be both of high surface energy and high strain energy, was found to develop. Quantitative thermodynamic model calculations showed that the anomalous formation of this {110} texture originates fundamentally from the grain yielding anisotropy of Ni. Based on extensive grain yielding anisotropy model calculations, a “texture map” based on {111}, {100}, and {110} textures was constructed to predict the texture transition temperatures for different film thicknesses. A kinetic analysis of the texture evolution in the films is further presented, revealing that the texture evolution is controlled by the self-diffusion of atoms at grain boundaries. These findings pave the way for the achievement of unusual surface orientations through the quantitative texture design of thin films.

Summary High saturation magnetization, hysteresis-less long linear response range, and resistance to device fabrication conditions are figures of merit for magnetic materials. Despite advances in materials research, many high-saturating micro- and nanomagnetic materials are hysteresis-prone, have short linear ranges, and are sensitive to oxidation, resulting in device inefficiencies in high-frequency electronics and unpredictable responses in magnetic sensing applications. Holmium oxide is a promising material because of its high magnetic susceptibility, but synthetic options are limited, with low-temperature magnetism incompletely characterized. Here, we present physical vapor deposition synthesis and material characterization of polycrystalline holmium oxide thin films. The product has saturation magnetization exceeding 2 Tesla, linear range (μ0H) also exceeding 2 Tesla, zero magnetic remanence and coercivity, and resistance to harsh processing conditions including oxygen plasma and concentrated hydrofluoric acid etching, making these thin films ideal for fabricating next-generation nanoscale magnetic devices in advanced scientific and engineering applications.

The aim of this study was to develop memristors based on Nb2O5 grown by a simple and inexpensive electrochemical anodization process. It was confirmed that the electrolyte selection plays a crucial role in resistive switching due to electrolyte species incorporation in oxide, thus influencing the formation of conductive filaments. Anodic memristors grown in phosphate buffer showed improved electrical characteristics, while those formed in citrated buffer exhibited excellent memory capabilities. The chemical composition of oxides was successfully determined using HAXPES, while their phase composition and crystal structure with conductive filaments was assessed by TEM at the nanoscale. Overall, understanding the switching mechanism leads towards a wide range of possible applications for Nb memristors either as selector devices or nonvolatile memories.

Europium (Eu) and dysprosium (Dy) co-doped strontium aluminate (SrAl2O4) (SA:Eu,Dy) is one of the most widely applied long persistent phosphors due to its strong emission intensity and long afterglow. However, the difficulty to get crystalline SA:Eu,Dy thin films in the as-deposited state strongly limited their applications in devices and surface coatings. In this study, we present a breakthrough in the synthesis of single-crystal SA:Eu,Dy films via direct-epitaxial growth on sapphire substrate by means of pulsed layer deposition. A threshold temperature of 900 °C is identified, only above which the mobility of adatoms is high enough to form crystalline films. By avoiding the nucleation process via introducing a homo-buffer layer, this temperature can be significantly reduced by 200 °C. The direct-epitaxial growth ensures a good surface quality, while the temperature reduction may prevent interdiffusion in applications involving hetero multilayer structures. The films are single crystals composed of twinned domains. The constraint effect from substrate significantly limits the freedom for twinning, which leads to much less twin variants in films compared to powders. The high-quality epitaxial films obtained in this study are useful for understanding the unique phosphorescence mechanism in SA:Eu,Dy, which may further help to design new phosphor materials with higher performance.

Angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) is the main experimental tool to explore electronic structure of solids resolved in the electron momentum k . Soft-X-ray ARPES (SX-ARPES), operating in a photon energy range around 1 keV, benefits from enhanced probing depth compared to the conventional VUV-range ARPES, and elemental/chemical state specificity achieved with resonant photoemission. These advantages make SX-ARPES ideally suited for buried heterostructure and impurity systems, which are at the heart of current and future electronics. These applications are illustrated here with a few pioneering results, including buried quantum-well states in semiconductor and oxide heterostructures, their bosonic coupling critically affecting electron transport, magnetic impurities in diluted magnetic semiconductors and topological materials, etc. High photon flux and detection efficiency are crucial for pushing the SX-ARPES experiment to these most photon-hungry cases.

TiO2 and WO3 are two of the most important, industrially relevant earth-abundant oxides. Although both materials show complementary functionality and are promising candidates for similar types of applications such as catalysis, sensor technology, and energy conversion, their chemical stability in reactive environments differs remarkably. In this study, anodic barrier oxides are grown on solid-solution WxTi1–x alloy precursors covering a wide compositional range (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) with the goal of creating functional oxides with tailored stability. A strong Ti-cation enrichment in the surface region of the grown WxTi1–xOn layer is observed, which can be controlled by both the anodizing conditions and precursor composition. For Ti concentrations above 50 at. %, a continuous nanometer-thick TiO2 protective coating is achieved on top of a homogeneous WxTi1–xOn film as evidenced by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses. A comprehensive electrochemical assessment demonstrates a very stable passivation of the surface in both acidic and alkaline environments. This increase in chemical stability correlates directly with the presence of this protective TiO2 film. The results of this work provide insights into the oxidation behavior of W1–xTix alloys, but more importantly demonstrate how controlled oxidation of self-passivating alloys can lead to oxide alloys with thin, protective surface layers that otherwise would require more sophisticated deposition methods.

The conventional memory technology, based on von Neumann architecture, has challenged technical and scaling limitations. The architectures with separated memory and computing units have resulted in the low efficiency of computing systems. Hence, huge scientific attention has been recently drawn into the development of novel systems using the in-memory computing concept. Memristors are foreseen as a type of non-volatile memories that can fulfill such requirements but also as electronic components that can solve sneak path currents problems while consuming low power. The information storage mechanism is based on the resistance change of memristors which is driven by an applied external electric field. With this regard, the memory medium plays a crucial role, being an oxide layer sandwiched between the metallic bottom and top electrode. Valve metals and their oxides have shown promising switching properties when used as elements of metal-insulator-metal memristive (MIM) structures. The switching mechanism still depends on the nano-dimensional conductive filaments formation inside the oxide. Even though devices based on Hf, Nb, Ti, and Ta demonstrated a long lifetime, high data retention or resistive state ratio, devices are suffering from low lifetimes in the order of several thousand switching cycles, mainly due to the unpredictable size and position of conductive filaments being affected by the movement of cations or O species. Therefore, the development of materials for defect-engineered memristive applications is crucial. This was the main motivation for this study supported by the fact that memristors based on pure valve metals exhibited promising switching behavior. In this work, devices based on Ta, Nb, and their alloys were investigated. Since the goal was to improve the properties of devices based on pure metals, Nb and Ta were mixed and their alloys were used as bottom electrode for anodic memristors. It can be inferred that by mixing Ta and Nb, multifunctional devices can be produced. High number of Nb-Ta alloys were co-deposited by sputtering onto previously oxidized Si wafers. Afterwards, the samples were anodized for growing an insulating active layer for memristive devices. Onto the so-formed mixed oxides, Pt was deposited as top electrode. The compositional gradient was mapped by a scanning energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEDX) system. The total compositional spread of the Nb-Ta library was ranging from Nb - 13 at.%Ta to Nb – 80 at% Ta over three Si wafers. Memristive devices based on Nb or Ta were also fabricated in identical conditions and used as reference samples. By using a combinatorial approach, the investigation of various electrical parameters could be established for more than 300 memristive devices produced per Si wafer. Electrical characterization was performed by a self-developed Gantry robot controlled via Labview software specifically designed for basic tests required for memristive characterization (I-U sweeps, endurance, retention tests). Electrical properties were screened with a compositional resolution of 1 at.%. The results have shown that memristive devices based on Ta reached a long lifetime and high resistive state ratio, whereas devices based on Nb indicated multi-level switching as well as non-volatile and threshold switching characteristics. The formation of Ta-oxyphosphate, responsible for conductive filaments pining, was confirmed by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Similarly, multi-level switching characteristics were explained by the incorporation of electrolyte species in Nb2O5. However, Nb devices did not show reversible switching from unipolar to bipolar mode and vice versa. The improvement regarding reversible switching between unipolar and bipolar mode has been observed for memristive devices based on alloys containing Nb -35 at. % Ta. These memristors have also demonstrated longer endurance and data retention as compared to devices based on pure Nb and Ta. The switching mechanism was investigated by conductive filaments imaging using transmission electron microscopy. Conclusively, anodic memristors based on Nb and Ta exhibited non-volatile and threshold characteristics which can spread the range of memristive applications. Reversible switching behavior and multi-level switching possibilities are relevant for the development of memristive synapses and neuromorphic systems. The anodic growth of an insulating layer for devices based on Nb, Ta, and Nb/Ta alloys has simplified, speed up and decreased the cost of fabrication processes. The performance of anodic memristors based on metallic thin films containing Nb -35 at. % Ta indicated a substantial improvement. The switching mechanisms could be suggested based on the nanostructures found in oxide revealing the position and size of conductive filaments. I. Zrinski et al., Appl. Surf. Sci., 548, 149093 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.149093. I. Zrinski, et al., Appl. Mater. Today, accepted, (2021). I. Zrinski, et. al, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 12, 8917 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02346 Figure 1

Smart microstructure and interface design in nanomultilayers allows to tailor physical properties like thermal stability, thermal conductivity and directional metal outflow for targeted applications. In this work, selected examples of nanomultilayer systems, constituted of alternating nanolayers of metals and/or nitrides, as precisely fabricated with variable textures, microstructures, grain sizes and internal stresses are presented. The role of the microstructure and stress state on selected functional properties is shown.

A combinatorial screening approach has been designed for identification of Hf-Ta anodic memristors with enhanced properties. Three distinct compositional zones with similar characteristics have been identified, two of which are relevant for memristive applications. In a Hf-poor zone, (

Heterostructures of transition metal oxides perovskites represent an ideal platform to explore exotic phenomena involving the complex interplay between the spin, charge, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom available in these compounds. At the interface between such materials, this interplay can lead to phenomena that are present in none of the original constituents such as the formation of the interfacial two-dimensional electron system (2DES) discovered at the $\mathrm{LA}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}/\mathrm{ST}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ (LAO/STO) interface. In samples prepared by growing a LAO layer onto a STO substrate, the 2DES is confined in a band bending potential well, whose width is set by the interface charge density and the STO dielectric properties, and determines the electronic band structure. Growing LAO (2 nm) /STO $(x$ nm)/LAO (2 nm) heterostructures on STO substrates allows us to control the extension of the confining potential of the top 2DES via the thickness of the STO layer. In such samples, we explore the electronic structure trend under an increase of the confining potential with using soft x-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy combined with ab initio calculations. The results indicate that varying the thickness of the STO film modifies the quantization of the $3d\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}{t}_{2\mathrm{g}}$ bands and, interestingly, redistributes the charge between the ${d}_{xy}$ and ${d}_{xz}/{d}_{yz}$ bands.

The role of epitaxial strain and chemical termination in selected interfaces of perovskite oxide heterostructures is under intensive investigation because of emerging novel electronic properties. SrTiO$$_3$$ (STO) is one of the most used substrates for these compounds, and along its $$ \lt 001 \gt $$ direction allows for two nonpolar chemical terminations: TiO2 and SrO. In this paper, we investigate the surface morphology and crystal structure of SrO epitaxial ultrathin films: from 1 to about 25 layers grown onto TiO$$_2$$-terminated STO substrates. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis reveal that SrO grows along its $$[111]$$ direction with a 4% out-of-plane elongation. This large strain may underlay the mechanism of the formation of self-organized pattern of stripes that we observed in the initial growth. We found that the distance between the TiO$$_2$$ plane and the first deposited SrO layer is $$0.27(3)$$ nm, a value which is about 40% bigger than in the STO bulk. We demonstrate that a single SrO-deposited layer has a different morphology compared to an ideal atomically flat chemical termination.

Interfacing different transition-metal oxides opens a route to functionalizing their rich interplay of electron, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom for electronic and spintronic devices. Electronic and magnetic properties of SrTiO3-based interfaces hosting a mobile two-dimensional electron system (2DES) are strongly influenced by oxygen vacancies, which form an electronic dichotomy, where strongly correlated localized electrons in the in-gap states (IGSs) coexist with noncorrelated delocalized 2DES. Here, we use resonant soft-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to prove the eg character of the IGSs, as opposed to the t2g character of the 2DES in the paradigmatic LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. We furthermore separate the dxy and dxz/dxz orbital contributions based on deeper consideration of the resonant photoexcitation process in terms of orbital and momentum selectivity. Supported by a self-consistent combination of density functional theory and dynamical mean field theory calculations, this experiment ...

For Al alloys (e.g. Al-Si series) surface treatment like anodizing is a necessary step for applications in aggressive environments. Si-surface enrichment caused by processing can alter importantly the anodizing process. Model alloys with Si supersaturated in Al layer grown by PVD have been used to investigate the effect of the Si content on the anodizing process. Different Si concentrations of 0, 4, 7, 10 at.% are considered and compared. The morphology and in-depth microstructure of the oxides are derived for the different Si contents and anodizing potentials. Si was found to have a dramatic effect on the void and defect formation during barrier Al oxides growth even for Si concentrations as low as 4 at.%. Importantly, the anodizing oxide layer appears to be heterogeneous in the cross section, with Si accumulation close to the metal oxide interface while pure Al oxide is first formed as a barrier on the top surface.

The deployment of Li-garnet Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) solid-state electrolytes in solid-state batteries is severely hampered by their poor wettability with metallic Li. In this work, Sb is presented as a compelling interfacial layer allowing superior wetting of Li onto a LLZO surface, resulting in a remarkably low Li/LLZO interfacial resistance of 4.1(1) Ω cm2. An atomistic insight into Sb-coated LLZO interface using soft and hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and focused ion beam time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry shows the formation of a Li-Sb alloy as an interlayer. It is determined that the Li/Sb-coated LLZO/Li symmetrical cells exhibit a high critical current density of up to 0.64 mA cm−2 and low overpotentials of 40–50 mV at a current density of 0.2 mA cm−2 without applying external pressure. The electrochemical performance of Sb coated-LLZO pellets is also assessed with an intercalation-type V2O5 cathode. Li/Sb-coated-LLZO/V2O5 full cells deliver stable capacities of around 0.45 mAh cm−2, with a peak current density of 0.3 mA cm−2., Advanced Energy Materials, 11 (39), ISSN:1614-6832, ISSN:1614-6840

The phenomenon of non-equilibrium grain boundaries and interphase boundaries is very important for materials science. They can be found in materials after sever plastic deformation, rapid quenching etc. In the present work, the influence of interface stresses on the energy of Cu/W interphase boundaries during the thermal degradation of Cu/W nano-multilayers is revealed. As rationalized on the basis of a modified Young equation, the large interface stress in the as-deposited NML decreases the thermodynamic driving force for the thermal grooving of W/W GBs. The experimentally derived interface stress linearly decreases with increasing annealing temperature. The onset of NML degradation, as initiated by grooving, only sets in after complete relaxation of the interface stress at around 650°C. The thus obtained fundamental knowledge may be exploited to tailor the thermal stability of immiscible NML systems and other types of immiscible nanomaterials by controlling the interface stress level during material synthesis.

TiO

This study addresses the phase stability and atomic mobility of Ag-Cu40at.% nano-alloys confined by AlN in a nanomultilayered configuration during thermal treatment. To this end, nanomultilayers (NMLs) with a fixed Ag-Cu40at.% nanolayer thickness of 8 nm and a AlN barrier nanolayer with variable thickness of 4, 8, or 10 nm were deposited by magnetron sputtering on sapphire substrates and subsequently isothermally annealed for 5 or 20 min in air in the range of 200-500 °C. The microstructure of the as-deposited and heat-treated NMLs was analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Annealing of the thicker AlN barrier layers at T > 300 °C leads to the formation of an interconnected network of line-shaped Cu(O) protrusions on the annealed NML surface. The well-defined outflow pattern of Cu(O) originates from the thermally induced surface cracking of the top AlN barriers with subsequent fast mass transport of Cu along the Cu/AlN interfaces toward the surface cracks. The thinnest (i.e., 4 nm thick) AlN barrier layers exhibit a relatively open grain boundary structure and act as nanoporous membranes upon heating, resulting in the formation of a dense and homogenous distribution of Cu(O) and Ag droplets on the NML surface. These findings demonstrate that the microstructure (i.e., layer thicknesses, interface coherency, and texture) of hybrid nanolaminates can be tuned to provide defined pathways for fast, directional transport of the confined metal to the surface at relatively low temperatures, which might open new routes for low-temperature bonding of micro- and nano-scaled systems.

The role of epitaxial strain and chemical termination in selected interfaces of perovskite oxide heterostructures is under intensive investigation because of emerging novel electronic properties. SrTiO 3 (STO) is one of the most used substrates for these compounds, and along its direction allows for two nonpolar chemical terminations: TiO2 and SrO. In this paper, we investigate the surface morphology and crystal structure of SrO epitaxial ultrathin films: from 1 to about 25 layers grown onto TiO 2-terminated STO substrates. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis reveal that SrO grows along its [111] direction with a 4% out-of-plane elongation. This large strain may underlay the mechanism of the formation of self-organized pattern of stripes that we observed in the initial growth. We found that the distance between the TiO 2 plane and the first deposited SrO layer is 0.27(3) nm, a value which is about 40% bigger than in the STO bulk. We demonstrate that a single SrO-deposited layer has a different morphology compared to an ideal atomically flat chemical termination., GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

During the growth of anodic Al oxide layers water incorporates in the film and therefore influences the intrinsic properties of the oxide formed. In this study, we propose a new approach, based on the use of high-resolution neutron imaging, to visualize and quantify the water content in porous Al oxides as a function of anodizing conditions. Water in these porous films is either incorporated directly in the oxide structure (structural) and/or fills the pores (morphological). This preliminary study demonstrates that the differences in water content of porous anodic Al oxide layers are strongly related to the oxide growth parameters but interestingly cannot be directly correlated to a specific change in the amorphous oxide structure or in the pore morphology. Due to the high sensitivity of high-resolution neutron imaging to small changes in the water content, we furthermore show that the morphological water content in Al oxides formed in sulfuric acid as well as in phosphoric acid is partially reversible upon heat treatment and immersion. High-resolution neutron imaging is also found to be highly sensitive to structural disorder and crystallographic orientations, allowing to identify different crystalline Al oxide samples based on their structural and morphological defect content. This offers new perspectives to study the effect of the hydrogen and/or water incorporation as well as oxide-related structural modifications on Al oxihydroxides in relation to growth parameters, stability, functionalization as well as properties tuning, highly relevant to surface protection and their use as templates.

Nanomultilayers are complex architectures of materials stacked in sequence with layer thicknesses in the nanometer range. Their application in microelectronics is challenged by their thermal stability, conductivity, and interface reactivity, which can compromise their performance and usability. By using different materials as thermal barriers and by changing their thickness, it is possible to manipulate interfacial effects on thermal transport. In this work, we report on the thermal conductivity of Cu/W, Cu/Ta, and Cu/TaN sputter deposited nanomultilayers with different thicknesses. The resistive interfacial effects are rationalized and discussed also in relation to the structural transformation into a nano-composite upon high-temperature annealing.

The thermal stability of Cu/W nano-multilayers in the temperature range of 400 °C– 800 °C has been investigated by high-resolution scanning electron microcopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. A repetition of 100 alternating nanolayers of Cu and W with individual thicknesses of 5 nm were prepared by magnetron sputter deposition on an α-Al2O3 substrate. In the as-deposited state, the nano-multilayers exhibit pronounced Cu and W textures with a Cu{111} 1 ¯ >||W{110} 1 ¯ > orientation relationship. Annealing at T ≥ 500 °C results in the appearance of a high number of line-shaped protrusions on the outer surface, which are composed of facetted Cu particles. Annealing at T ≥ 700 °C leads to a gradual degradation of the initial layered structure towards a spheroidized nanocomposite consisting of globular W particles embedded in a Cu matrix (after annealing at 800 °C). An average activation energy of 257 ± 21 kJ/mol (2.66 ± 0.22 eV) related to this degradation process is determined by in-situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction. The experimentally obtained activation energy indicates that the morphological transformation is governed by the diffusion of W along internal interfaces such as Cu/W interphase boundaries and W/W grain boundaries.

The phase stability and microstructural evolution of nano-multilayer (NML) coatings during thermal treatments have attracted increasing attention in several technological fields, such as plasmonics, optics and joining. In the present study, the microstructural evolution of (Ag/AlN)5nm/10nm NML coating upon heating in air and under vacuum was investigated by a combinatorial approach using SEM, TEM, XPS and XRD (both in the laboratory and at the synchrotron facility). Fast heating of the Ag/AlN NML in air up to 420 °C leads to an extensive migration of nano-confined Ag to the NML surface at temperatures as low as 200 °C, much below the Ag bulk melting point. Remarkably, the migration of Ag towards the surface is negligible for a similar heat treatment under vacuum, as well as for a thick Ag layer (i.e. in the absence of a nano-confinement of Ag). Outward migration of Ag is driven by the reduction of internal interfaces (i.e. nanograin- and phase-boundaries) in combination with the relaxation of thermally induced compressive stresses. The enhanced mobility of Ag in an O-rich atmosphere is attributed to the reduction of the activation energies for vacancy formation in the confined Ag nanolayers, as induced by the chemical interaction of inwardly diffusing O with Ag along Ag/AlN interfaces. The combined effects of nano-confinement, thermal stresses and an O-rich atmosphere in the Ag/AlN NML may be exploited for novel low-temperature joining applications.

The stability, reactivity and functionality of modern nanostructured and nanoarchitectured materials, like nano-multilayers (NMLs) and nanocomposites (NCs), are generally ruled by fast short-circuit diffusion of atoms along internal interfaces, such as phase and grain boundaries (GBs), at relatively low temperatures. Residual stresses can have a significant effect on the kinetics of short-circuit diffusion in these nanomaterials, which has been largely neglected up to date. We present a combined experimental-modelling approach for deriving stress-free activation energies (and related diffusion coefficients) for the grain boundary diffusion of a given element across an inert barrier nanolayer, which can be utilized to perform fundamental investigations and model predictions of GB diffusion kinetics across inert barrier nanolayers in the presence of a varying stress field. The method was applied to investigate the diffusion of Cu along W grain boundaries in Cu/W nano-multilayers in the temperature range from 400 °C to 600 °C. Firstly, the GB diffusion kinetics as function of the temperature and stress state were determined from experiment by combining in situ heating AES analysis and ex situ XRD stress analysis. The experimental data were compared to model predictions from a modified Hwang–Balluffi model, which accounts for a varying stress level within the barrier during the annealing. The extracted stress-free activation energy for grain boundary diffusion of Cu in W (~0.29 eV) is substantially lower than the respective experimental value for a high compressive stress within the W barrier nanolayer. The corresponding stress-free Cu GB diffusion coefficient in W equals D b ∗ = 3.2 ± 0.6 × 10 - 15 e x p - 0.29 ± 0.02 e V / k T c m 2 / s .

This work describes the influence of 99.99% Al sheet surface microstructure on the properties (electrical, ionic defects) of high-field grown barrier anodic oxides and how Electro-Chemical Etching (ECE) can be used to analyze and optimize them. As a surface treatment, ECE process provides smooth surfaces with revealed crystallographic planes. In terms of surface roughness, grain size and crystal orientation, the different Al substrate microstructures presented as a function of ECE process time (depth in the rolled Al sheet), generate strong variations on the passive and anodic oxide Volta Potential Difference (VPD) and electrical barrier properties of anodized layers investigated at different length scales. Optimal ECE times related to the removal of surface deformation and detrimental (1 1 1) orientation allow the growth of electric barrier-like anodic oxides with enhanced dielectric constants of about 14.5. The high VPD of ~6 V, measured by AFM/SKPFM for highly capacitive anodic oxides, are associated to the formation of dense and homogeneous ionic migration-hindering oxides with minimized defect concentration. Concerning corrosion initiation, no direct correlation between the bulk crystallographic orientation and localized initiation susceptibility was found. Instead, grain boundary mismatch between differently oriented grains was identified as affecting local oxide structure and the corrosion resistance of barrier Al2O3.

A comprehensive understanding of the oxidation of Cu thin films in the low-temperature regime is of fundamental interest and particularly relevant for applications in the fields of micro- and nanoelectronics, sensors, catalysis, and solar cells. The current study reports on the oxidation kinetics of PVD grown Cu thin films (20–150 nm thick) and the oxide phase evolution from Cu2O to CuO upon thermal oxidation in the temperature range of 100–450 °C. XRD investigations in the laboratory and at the synchrotron show that the oxide phase formation critically depends on the oxidation conditions such as temperature and oxygen partial pressure. The real-time synchrotron XRD measurements reveal that the formation of the CuO phase only starts after complete oxidation of the Cu films to Cu2O films. In situ resistance measurements were performed to follow the oxide growth rate of Cu2O on Cu films in the temperature range of 100–300 °C in air and in 10 mbar pO2. It is found that the oxidation kinetics of Cu films to Cu2O films follows the linear rate law, which is attributed to surface reaction controlled oxidation. The oxygen dissociation rate at the gas–solid interface is the rate-limiting process. A dramatic decrease in the linear oxidation rate is observed at low oxygen partial pressures. The fundamental differences between the oxidation rate-limiting processes of Cu as compared to other transition metal films are discussed.

Interfacing different transition-metal oxides opens a route to functionalizing their rich interplay of electron, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom for electronic and spintronic devices. Electronic and magnetic properties of SrTiO

In this short introductory chapter, basic concepts of photoemission techniques will be given. In particular, the importance of some parameters like probing depth, energy and momentum resolution will be tackled by comparing photoemission experiments in different photon energy ranges from ultraviolet to soft and hard X-rays. Buried system i.e. interfaces could be probed only by using high energy photoemission. Apart from the band structure resolved in electron momentum k, the photoemission technique directly probes the electron spectral function encoding information about how particles are dressed by their interactions with the remainder of the system. Many body effects and electron correlation can in this way be accessed, in particular, the electron-phonon interaction affecting electron mobility. Finally, the instrumental development of photoemission is described in connection with its scientific perspective.

Soft-X-ray ARPES (SX-ARPES) with its enhanced probing depth and chemical specificity allows access to fundamental electronic structure characteristics—momentum-resolved spectral function, band structure, Fermi surface—of systems difficult and even impossible for the conventional ARPES such as three-dimensional materials, buried interfaces and impurities. After a recap of the spectroscopic abilities of SX-ARPES, we review its applications to oxide interfaces, focusing on the paradigm LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. Resonant SX-ARPES at the Ti L-edge accentuates photoemission response of the mobile interface electrons and exposes their dxy-, dyz- and dxz-derived subbands forming the Fermi surface in the interface quantum well. After a recap of the electron-phonon interaction physics, we demonstrate that peak-dip-hump structure of the experimental spectral function manifests the Holstein-type large polaron nature of the interface charge carriers, explaining their fundamentally reduced mobility. Coupling of the charge carriers to polar soft phonon modes defines dramatic drop of mobility with temperature. Oxygen deficiency adds another dimension to the rich physics of LaAlO3/SrTiO3 resulting from co-existence of mobile and localized electrons introduced by oxygen vacancies. Oxygen deficiency allows tuning of the polaronic coupling and thus mobility of the charge carriers, as well as of interfacial ferromagnetism connected with various atomic configurations of the vacancies. Finally, we discuss spectroscopic evidence of phase separation at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. Concluding, we put prospects of SX-ARPES for complex heterostructures, spin-resolving experiments opening the totally unexplored field of interfacial spin structure, and in-operando field-effect experiments paving the way towards device applications of the reach physics of oxide interfaces.

The fundamental advantage of soft-X-ray ARPES (SX-ARPES) with photon energies around 1 keV compared to the conventional vacuum-ultraviolet ARPES (VUV-ARPES) is an increase of the photoelectron escape depth. This enhances the bulk sensitivity of the ARPES experiment as well as enables access to buried systems such as interfaces, heterostructures, and impurities. This advantage combines with resolution in three-dimensional (3D) momentum k, which, on the other hand, degrades upon further increase of energy into the hard-X-ray range. The main challenge of SX-ARPES is the valence band (VB) photoemission cross-section decreasing by a few orders of magnitude compared to the VUV-ARPES energy range. This problem can only be overpowered with advanced synchrotron radiation instrumentation delivering high photon flux. In this article, after a recap of the main virtues and current challenges of SX-ARPES, we report on the recent instrumental progress at the Swiss Light Source (SLS), where a new SX-ARPES facility was in...

Thermal treatment of nano-multilayers (NMLs) constituted of alternating immiscible metals, like W and Cu, can evolve in a nanocomposite (NC) with tailored mechanical, electrical and/or thermal properties. The NML-to-NC transformation can result in unique material properties of the resulting NC, which can hardly be achieved by conventional composite fabrication. In this paper, we systematically study the role of the individual Cu and W layer thicknesses in Cu/W NMLs on the diffusion, internal stress evolution and resulting NC microstructure upon heating by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution scanning electron microcopy and Auger electron spectroscopy. In the as-deposited state, a strong compressive stress state of Cu and W is observed, which is governed by a dominating interface stress contribution of the Cu{111}/W{110} interfaces of 11.25 ± 0.56 J/m2. Isothermal annealing of the as-deposited NMLs with different Cu and W layer thicknesses yields to the formation of nets of Cu protrusions on the NML surface, acting as a stress relaxation mechanism, which becomes thermally activated at 400 °C. The kinetics of Cu surface outflow are governed by the initial Cu/W stress state and the individual layer thickness ratio. During annealing at 700–800 °C, the Cu surface particles diffuse back into the volume of the near stress-free NML (dissolution), which defines the onset of accelerated degradation of the nanolaminated structure by thermal grooving, eventually forming a NC. The thickness ratio of Cu and W layers is shown to strongly affect the onset of the NML-to-NC transformation and the final NC microstructure.

The wiggler X-ray source of the Materials Science beamline at the Swiss Light Source has been replaced with a 14 mm-period cryogenically cooled in-vacuum undulator. In order to best exploit the increased brilliance of this new source, the entire front-end and optics have been redesigned., The Materials Science beamline at the Swiss Light Source has been operational since 2001. In late 2010, the original wiggler source was replaced with a novel insertion device, which allows unprecedented access to high photon energies from an undulator installed in a medium-energy storage ring. In order to best exploit the increased brilliance of this new source, the entire front-end and optics had to be redesigned. In this work, the upgrade of the beamline is described in detail. The tone is didactic, from which it is hoped the reader can adapt the concepts and ideas to his or her needs.

Nature Communications 7 Article number: 1038610.1038/ncomms10386 (2016); Published January272016; Updated February262016 In the original PDF version of this Article, which was published on 27 January 2016, the publication date was incorrectly given as 27 January 2015. This has now been corrected in the PDF; the HTML version of the paper was correct from the time of publication.

The structural evolution of a Ag–Cu/AlN nano-multilayer (NML), as prepared by magnetron-sputtering on a α-Al2O3 substrate, was monitored during fast heating by real-time in situ XRD analysis (at the synchrotron), as well as by ex situ microstructural analysis using SEM, XPS and in-house XRD. The as-deposited NML is constituted of alternating nano-layers (thickness ≈ 10 nm) of a chemically inert AlN barrier and a eutectic Ag–Cu40at% nano-alloy. The nano-alloy in the as-deposited state is composed of a fcc matrix of Ag nano-grains (≈6 nm), which are supersaturated by Cu, and some smaller embedded Cu rich nano-grains (≈4 nm). Heating up to 265 °C activates segregation of Cu out of the supersaturated Ag nano-grains phase, thus initiating phase separation. At T > 265 °C, the phase-separated Cu metal partially migrates to the top NML surface, thereby relaxing thermally-accumulated compressive stresses in the confined alloy nano-layers and facilitating grain coarsening of (still confined) phase-separated nano-crystallites. Further heating and annealing up to 420 °C results in complete phase separation, forming extended Ag and Cu domains with well-defined coherent Ag/AlN interfaces. The observed outflow of Cu well below the eutectic melting point of the bulk Ag–Cu alloy might provide new pathways for designing low-temperature nano-structured brazing materials.

Polarization-controlled synchrotron radiation was used to map the electronic structure of buried conducting interfaces of LaAlO${}_{3}$/SrTiO${}_{3}$ in a resonant angle-resolved photoemission experiment. A strong polarization dependence of the Fermi surface and band dispersions is demonstrated, highlighting different Ti $3d$ orbitals involved in two-dimensional (2D) conduction. Measurements on samples with different doping levels reveal different band occupancies and Fermi-surface areas. The photoemission results are directly compared with advanced first-principles calculations, carried out for different $3d$-band filling levels connected with the 2D mobile carrier concentrations obtained from transport measurements, with indication of charge localization at the interface.

The functionality and reliability of nano-multilayered devices and components are largely affected by the stress evolution during fabrication, processing, and operation. The impact of thermal treatment on the stress state and evolving microstructure of Cu/W nano-multilayers, as deposited on different substrates (i.e., Si(001), Al2O3-C, and Al2O3-R) by magnetron sputtering, was investigated by in-situ high temperature X-ray diffraction and high-resolution scanning electron microcopy. The as-deposited Cu and W nanolayers exhibit an out-of-plane orientation relationship according to Cu ⟨ 111 ⟩ | | W ⟨ 110 ⟩. On the Al2O3-C and Al2O3-R substrates, the Cu/W nanomultilayers also develop a pronounced in-plane texture given by Cu { 111 } ⟨ 10 1 ¯ ⟩ | | W { 110 } ⟨ 00 1 ¯ ⟩. The stress state of the Cu nanolayers in the as-deposited state and upon heating, investigated ex-situ, is largely imposed by the accumulated stresses in the much stiffer W nanolayers. In the as-deposited state, the W nanolayers exhibit a much...

We report the results of second-harmonic optical spectroscopy of LaAlO${}_{3}$ films grown on SrTiO${}_{3}$ (001) substrates having either TiO${}_{2}$ or SrO atomic terminations. The atomic termination is found to have a large effect on the observed spectra, with a strong dependence on the $\ensuremath{\omega}$-$2\ensuremath{\omega}$ light polarizations. These results are analyzed through a model based on symmetry-controlled selection rules and atomic orbital overlaps. The analysis shows that, as suspected from transport measurements, the SrO termination prevents the formation of a mobile interfacial electron gas. Yet, by explicitly probing and identifying the electronic states at the O${}^{2\ensuremath{-}}$--Ti${}^{3+}$ band gap we now obtain unique and direct evidence that this is caused by the absence of any detectable charge injection in the interfacial region rather than by carrier localization.

The interfaces of LaAlO3/SrTiO3 and (LaAlO3)x(SrTiO3)1−x/SrTiO3 heterostructures have been investigated by soft x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for different layer thicknesses across the insulator-to-metal interface transition. The valence band and Fermi edge were probed using resonant photoemission across the Ti L2,3 absorption edge. The presence of a Fermi-edge signal originating from the partially filled Ti 3d orbitals is only found in the conducting samples. No Fermi-edge signal could be detected for insulating samples below the critical thickness. Furthermore, the angular dependence of the Fermi intensity allows the determination of the spatial extent of the conducting electron density perpendicular to the interface.

The physical mechanisms responsible for the formation of a two ?dimensional electron gas at the interface between insulating SrTiO(3) and LaAlO(3) have remained a contentious subject since its discovery in 2004. Opinion is divided between an intrinsic mechanism involving the build ?up of an internal electric potential due to the polar discontinuity at the interface between SrTiO(3) and LaAlO(3)? and extrinsic mechanisms attributed to structural imperfections. Here we show that interface conductivity is also exhibited when the LaAlO(3) layer is diluted with SrTiO(3)? and that the threshold thickness required to show conductivity scales inversely with the fraction of LaAlO(3) in this solid solution and thereby also with the layer's formal polarization. These results can be best described in terms of the intrinsic polar ?catastrophe model hence providing the most compelling evidence to date in favour of this mechanism.