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Ahmadi M, Atul A, de Graaf S, van der Veer E, Meise A, Tavabi AH, Heggen M, Dunin-Borkowski RE, Ahmadi M, Kooi BJ. Atomically Resolved Phase Coexistence in VO 2 Thin Films. ACS NANO 2024; 18:13496-13505. [PMID: 38752408 PMCID: PMC11140831 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c10745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Concurrent structural and electronic transformations in VO2 thin films are of 2-fold importance: enabling fine-tuning of the emergent electrical properties in functional devices, yet creating an intricate interfacial domain structure of transitional phases. Despite the importance of understanding the structure of VO2 thin films, a detailed real-space atomic structure analysis in which the oxygen atomic columns are also resolved is lacking. Moreover, intermediate atomic structures have remained elusive due to the lack of robust atomically resolved quantitative analysis. Here, we directly resolve both V and O atomic columns and discover the presence of intermediate monoclinic (M2) phase nanolayers (less than 2 nm thick) in epitaxially grown VO2 films on a TiO2 (001) substrate, where the dominant part of VO2 undergoes a transition from the tetragonal (rutile) phase to the monoclinic M1 phase. Strain analysis suggests that the presence of the M2 phase is related to local strain gradients near the TiO2/VO2 interface. We unfold the crucial role of imaging the spatial configurations of the oxygen anions (in addition to V cations) by utilizing atomic-resolution electron microscopy. Our approach can be used to unravel the structural transitions in a wide range of correlated oxides, offering substantial implications for, e.g., optoelectronics and ferroelectrics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masoud Ahmadi
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh
4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Atul Atul
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh
4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sytze de Graaf
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh
4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ewout van der Veer
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh
4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ansgar Meise
- Ernst
Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Amir Hossein Tavabi
- Ernst
Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Marc Heggen
- Ernst
Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski
- Ernst
Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Majid Ahmadi
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh
4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Bart J. Kooi
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh
4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
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2
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Chang X, Li J, Mu J, Ma CH, Huang W, Zhu HF, Liu Q, Du LH, Zhong SC, Zhai ZH, Das S, Huang YL, Zhu GB, Zhu LG, Shi Q. Impact of the uniaxial strain on terahertz modulation characteristics in flexible epitaxial VO 2 film across the phase transition. OPTICS EXPRESS 2023; 31:13243-13254. [PMID: 37157465 DOI: 10.1364/oe.488947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Exploring flexible electronics is on the verge of innovative breakthroughs in terahertz (THz) communication technology. Vanadium dioxide (VO2) with insulator-metal transition (IMT) has excellent application potential in various THz smart devices, but the associated THz modulation properties in the flexible state have rarely been reported. Herein, we deposited an epitaxial VO2 film on a flexible mica substrate via pulsed-laser deposition and investigated its THz modulation properties under different uniaxial strains across the phase transition. It was observed that the THz modulation depth increases under compressive strain and decreases under tensile strain. Moreover, the phase-transition threshold depends on the uniaxial strain. Particularly, the rate of the phase transition temperature depends on the uniaxial strain and reaches approximately 6 °C/% in the temperature-induced phase transition. The optical trigger threshold in laser-induced phase transition decreased by 38.9% under compressive strain but increased by 36.7% under tensile strain, compared to the initial state without uniaxial strain. These findings demonstrate the uniaxial strain-induced low-power triggered THz modulation and provide new insights for applying phase transition oxide films in THz flexible electronics.
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3
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Huang J, Chen W. Flexible Strategy of Epitaxial Oxide Thin Films. iScience 2022; 25:105041. [PMID: 36157575 PMCID: PMC9489952 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Applying functional oxide thin films to flexible devices is of great interests within the rapid development of information technology. The challenges involve the contradiction between the high-temperature growth of high-quality oxide films and low melting point of the flexible supports. This review summarizes the developed methods to fabricate high-quality flexible oxide thin films with novel functionalities and applications. We start from the fabrication methods, e.g. direct growth on flexible buffered metal foils and layered mica, etching and transfer approach, as well as remote epitaxy technique. Then, various functionalities in flexible oxide films will be introduced, specifically, owing to the mechanical flexibility, some unique properties can be induced in flexible oxide films. Taking the advantages of the excellent physical properties, the flexible oxide films have been employed in various devices. Finally, future perspectives in this research field will be proposed to further develop this field from fabrication, functionality to device. Different methods to fabricate flexible oxide thin films have been introduced Physical functionalities of flexible oxide thin films have been demonstrated Various applications of flexible oxide thin films have been discussed Future perspectives of flexible oxide thin films have been proposed
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Pesquera D, Fernández A, Khestanova E, Martin LW. Freestanding complex-oxide membranes. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2022; 34:383001. [PMID: 35779514 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ac7dd5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Complex oxides show a vast range of functional responses, unparalleled within the inorganic solids realm, making them promising materials for applications as varied as next-generation field-effect transistors, spintronic devices, electro-optic modulators, pyroelectric detectors, or oxygen reduction catalysts. Their stability in ambient conditions, chemical versatility, and large susceptibility to minute structural and electronic modifications make them ideal subjects of study to discover emergent phenomena and to generate novel functionalities for next-generation devices. Recent advances in the synthesis of single-crystal, freestanding complex oxide membranes provide an unprecedented opportunity to study these materials in a nearly-ideal system (e.g. free of mechanical/thermal interaction with substrates) as well as expanding the range of tools for tweaking their order parameters (i.e. (anti-)ferromagnetic, (anti-)ferroelectric, ferroelastic), and increasing the possibility of achieving novel heterointegration approaches (including interfacing dissimilar materials) by avoiding the chemical, structural, or thermal constraints in synthesis processes. Here, we review the recent developments in the fabrication and characterization of complex-oxide membranes and discuss their potential for unraveling novel physicochemical phenomena at the nanoscale and for further exploiting their functionalities in technologically relevant devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Pesquera
- Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain
| | - Abel Fernández
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of America
| | | | - Lane W Martin
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of America
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of America
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5
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Dai J, Shi Y, Chen C, Chen X, Zhao C, Chen J. The mechanism of semiconductor to metal transition in the hydrogenation of VO2: A density functional theory study. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:5710-5719. [DOI: 10.1039/d1cp03891e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
VO2 is a glamorous material with specific metal-semiconductor-transition (MST). The hydrogenation of VO2 could make it a promising material applying in the ambient environment. In this work, we reveal the...
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Zhang R, Li X, Meng F, Bi J, Zhang S, Peng S, Sun J, Wang X, Wu L, Duan J, Cao H, Zhang Q, Gu L, Huang LF, Cao Y. Wafer-Scale Epitaxy of Flexible Nitride Films with Superior Plasmonic and Superconducting Performance. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:60182-60191. [PMID: 34881876 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c18278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Transition-metal nitrides (e.g., TiN, ZrN, TaN) are incredible materials with excellent complementary metal-oxide semiconductor compatibility and remarkable performance in refractory plasmonics and superconducting quantum electronics. Epitaxial growth of flexible transition-metal nitride films, especially at the wafer scale, is fundamentally important for developing high-performance flexible photonics and superconducting electronics, but the study is rare thus far. This work reports the high-quality epitaxy of 2-in. titanium nitride (TiN) films on flexible fluorophlogopite-mica (F-mica) substrates via reactive magnetron sputtering. Combined measurements of spectroscopic ellipsometry and electrical transport reveal the superior plasmonic and superconducting performance of TiN/F-mica films owing to the high single crystallinity. More interestingly, the superconductivity of these flexible TiN films can be manipulated by the bending states, and enhanced superconducting critical temperature TC is observed in convex TiN films with in-plane tensile strain. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the strain can tune the electron-phonon interaction strength and the resultant superconductivity of TiN films. This study provides a promising route toward integrating scalable single-crystalline transition-metal nitride films with flexible electronics for high-performance plasmonics and superconducting electronics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruyi Zhang
- Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Xinyan Li
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Fanqi Meng
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Jiachang Bi
- Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Shunda Zhang
- Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Shaoqin Peng
- Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jie Sun
- Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
| | - Xinming Wang
- Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
| | - Liang Wu
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China
| | - Junxi Duan
- School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Hongtao Cao
- Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
| | - Qinghua Zhang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Lin Gu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Liang-Feng Huang
- Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
| | - Yanwei Cao
- Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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7
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Ma H, Xiao X, Wang Y, Sun Y, Wang B, Gao X, Wang E, Jiang K, Liu K, Zhang X. Wafer-scale freestanding vanadium dioxide film. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabk3438. [PMID: 34878834 PMCID: PMC8654297 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abk3438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Vanadium dioxide (VO2), with well-known metal-to-insulator phase transition, has been used to realize intriguing smart functions in photodetectors, modulators, and actuators. Wafer-scale freestanding VO2 (f-VO2) films are desirable for integrating VO2 with other materials into multifunctional devices. Unfortunately, their preparation has yet to be achieved because the wafer-scale etching needs ultralong time and damages amphoteric VO2 whether in acid or alkaline etchants. Here, we achieved wafer-scale f-VO2 films by a nano-pinhole permeation-etching strategy in 6 min, far less than that by side etching (thousands of minutes). The f-VO2 films retain their pristine metal-to-insulator transition and intrinsic mechanical properties and can be conformably transferred to arbitrary substrates. Integration of f-VO2 films into diverse large-scale smart devices, including terahertz modulators, camouflageable photoactuators, and temperature-indicating strips, shows advantages in low insertion loss, fast response, and low triggering power. These f-VO2 films find more intriguing applications by heterogeneous integration with other functional materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- He Ma
- Institute of Information Photonics Technology, Faculty of Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, P. R. China
| | - Xiao Xiao
- Institute of Information Photonics Technology, Faculty of Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, P. R. China
| | - Yu Wang
- Institute of Information Photonics Technology, Faculty of Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, P. R. China
| | - Yufei Sun
- State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China
| | - Bolun Wang
- State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China
| | - Xinyu Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Department of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China
| | - Enze Wang
- State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China
| | - Kaili Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Department of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China
| | - Kai Liu
- State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China
- Corresponding author. (K.L.); (X.Z.)
| | - Xinping Zhang
- Institute of Information Photonics Technology, Faculty of Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, P. R. China
- Corresponding author. (K.L.); (X.Z.)
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8
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Wang JN, Xiong B, Peng RW, Li CY, Hou BQ, Chen CW, Liu Y, Wang M. Flexible Phase Change Materials for Electrically-Tuned Active Absorbers. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2021; 17:e2101282. [PMID: 34173329 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202101282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Revised: 04/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Phase change materials (PCMs), such as GeSbTe (GST) alloys and vanadium dioxide (VO2 ), play an important role in dynamically tunable optical metadevices. However, the PCMs usually require high thermal annealing temperatures above 700 K, but most flexible metadevices can only work below 500 K owing to the thermal instability of polymer substrates. This contradiction limits the integration of PCMs into flexible metadevices. Here, a mica sheet is chosen as the chemosynthetic support for VO2 and a smooth and uniformly flexible phase change material (FPCM) is realized. Such FPCMs can withstand high temperatures while remaining mechanically flexible. As an example, a metal-FPCM-metal infrared meta-absorber with mechanical flexibility and electrical tunability is demonstrated. Based on the electrically-tuned phase transition of FPCMs, the infrared absorption of the metadevice is continuously tuned from 20% to 90% as the applied current changes, and it remains quite stable at bending states. The metadevice is bent up to 1500 times, while no visible deterioration is detected. For the first time, the FPCM metastructures are significantly added to the flexible material family, and the FPCM-based metadevices show various application prospects in electrically-tunable conformal metadevices, dynamic flexible photodetectors, and active wearable devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia-Nan Wang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Bo Xiong
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Ru-Wen Peng
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Cheng-Yao Li
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Ben-Qi Hou
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Chao-Wei Chen
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Yu Liu
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Mu Wang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
- American Physical Society, Ridge, NY, 11961, USA
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