Search

Bi2NiMnO6 (BNMO) epitaxial thin films with a layered supercell (LSC) structure have emerged as a promising single‐phase multiferroic material recently. Because of the required strain state for the formation of the LSC structures, most of the previous BNMO films are demonstrated on rigid oxide substrates such as SrTiO3 and LaAlO3. Here, the potential of BNMO films grown on muscovite mica substrates via van der Waals epitaxy, spotlighting their suitability for cutting‐edge flexible device applications is delved. Comprehensive scanning transmission electron microscopy/energy‐dispersive X‐ray analyses reveal a layered structure in the BNMO film and a pristine interface with the mica substrate, indicating high‐quality deposition and minimal interfacial defects. Capitalizing on its unique property of easily cleavable layers due to weak van der Waals forces in mica substrates, flexible BNMO/mica samples are fixed. A standout feature of the BNMO film grown on mica substrate is its consistent multiferroic properties across varied mechanical conditions. A novel technique is introduced for thinning the mica substrate and subsequent transfer of the sample, with post‐transfer analyses validating the preserved structural and magnetic attributes of the film. Overall, this study illuminates the resilient multiferroic properties of BNMO films on mica, offering promising avenues for their integration for next‐generation flexible electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combinatorial growth is capable of creating a compositional gradient for thin film materials and thus has been adopted to explore composition variation mostly for metallic alloy thin films and some dopant concentrations for ceramic thin films. This study uses a combinatorial pulsed laser deposition method to successfully fabricate two‐phase oxide–oxide vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) thin films of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO)‐NiO with variable composition across the film area. The LSMO‐NiO compositional gradient across the film alters the two‐phase morphology of the VAN through varying nanopillar size and density. Additionally, the magnetic anisotropy and magnetoresistance properties of the nanocomposite thin films increase with increasing NiO composition. This demonstration of a combinatorial method for VAN growth can increase the efficiency of nanocomposite thin film research by allowing all possible compositions of thin film materials to be explored in a single deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocomposite thin film materials present great opportunities in coupling materials and functionalities in unique nanostructures including nanoparticles-in-matrix, vertically aligned nanocomposites (VANs), and nanolayers. Interestingly the nanocomposites processed through a non-equilibrium processing method, e.g., pulsed laser deposition (PLD), often possess unique metastable phases and microstructures that could not achieve using equilibrium techniques, and thus lead to novel physical properties. In this work, a unique three-phase system composed of BaTiO3 (BTO), with two immiscible metals, Au and Fe, is demonstrated. By adjusting the deposition laser frequency from 2 Hz to 10 Hz, the phase and morphology of Au and Fe nanoparticles in BTO matrix vary from separated Au and Fe nanoparticles to well-mixed Au-Fe alloy pillars. This is attributed to the non-equilibrium process of PLD and the limited diffusion under high laser frequency (e.g., 10 Hz). The magnetic and optical properties are effectively tuned based on the morphology variation. This work demonstrates the stabilization of non-equilibrium alloy structures in the VAN form and allows for the exploration of new non-equilibrium materials systems and their properties that could not be easily achieved through traditional equilibrium methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]