Oxygen Diode Formed in Nickelate Heterostructures by Chemical Potential Mismatch.

Authors :: Guo EJ
Liu Y
Sohn C
Desautels RD
Herklotz A
Liao Z
Nichols J
Freeland JW
Fitzsimmons MR
Lee HN
Source :: Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) [Adv Mater] 2018 Apr; Vol. 30 (15), pp. e1705904. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Mar 07.
Publication Year :: 2018
Abstract: Deliberate control of oxygen vacancy formation and migration in perovskite oxide thin films is important for developing novel electronic and iontronic devices. Here, it is found that the concentration of oxygen vacancies (V <subscript>O</subscript> ) formed in LaNiO <subscript>3</subscript> (LNO) during pulsed laser deposition is strongly affected by the chemical potential mismatch between the LNO film and its proximal layers. Increasing the V <subscript>O</subscript> concentration in LNO significantly modifies the degree of orbital polarization and drives the metal-insulator transition. Changes in the nickel oxidization state and carrier concentration in the films are confirmed by soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy and optical spectroscopy. The ability to unidirectional-control the oxygen flow across the heterointerface, e.g., a so-called "oxygen diode", by exploiting chemical potential mismatch at interfaces provides a new avenue to tune the physical and electrochemical properties of complex oxides.<br /> (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

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