Nanostructure manipulation and its influence on functionalities in self-assembled oxide thin films

Abstract

Self-assembled oxide thin films have tremendous potential applications in next generation of multifunctional systems. However, the manipulation of nanostructures and understanding on the relationship between nanostructures and functionalities remain as substantial challenges. Recently, an interesting architecture transformation between two basic nanocomposite structures has been demonstrated, i.e., from a horizontal layered structure to a vertical columnar structure, simply by tuning the film compositions in the (YBa2Cu3O7-δ)1-x:(BaZrO3)x system. In this work, the architecture dependence of functionalities has been investigated. The nanostructure manipulation has been revealed to largely affect the lattice structures and superconductive properties, especially at the critical composition of nanostructure transformation. The present work represents a novel approach to tune the self-assembled nanostructures and to further understand that how the nanostructures contribute to the functionalities in oxide thin films.

Metal Oxide Nanocomposites: A Perspective from Strain, Defect, and Interface

“…With increasing the BZO volume ratio, the system evolves from a vertical structure of BZO nanopillars embedded in YBCO film matrix to a lateral multilayer structure of YBCO/BZO . The microstructure transition, together with a significant relaxation of out‐of‐plane strain in the YBCO phase and an increase of critical temperature, indicates that the microstructure transition is mainly driven by the relaxation of strain energy . In addition, to accommodate the large lattice mismatch and elastic modulus mismatch, secondary phase such as BZO and BSO pillars in YBCO films tend to grow tilted away from the perfect zone axis.…”