Spherulitic and rotational crystal growth of Quartz thin films

Lutjes, Nick R.; Zhou, Silang; Antoja-Lleonart, Jordi; Noheda, Beatriz; Ocelík, Václav

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-94147-y

Cited by 21 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…On the contrary, for the thin films on sapphire substrates, an additional nucleation barrier is present. Our recent study on thin films on sapphire substrates has found that the nucleation starts from the top surface of the thin film 51 . Thus, the growth front at the film top is advanced with respect to the growth front at the film bottom, leading to rotation of the lattice during the growth 51 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our recent study on thin films on sapphire substrates has found that the nucleation starts from the top surface of the thin film 51 . Thus, the growth front at the film top is advanced with respect to the growth front at the film bottom, leading to rotation of the lattice during the growth 51 . When the nucleation starts from the top, it loses the information from the substrate and results in randomly oriented crystals.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thin films of the $$\alpha$$-quartz $$Si_xGe_{1-x}O_2$$ solid solution

Zhou

Antoja-Lleonart

Ocelík

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Abstract$$SiO_2$$ S i O 2 with the $$\alpha$$ α -quartz structure is one of the most popular piezoelectrics. It is widely used in crystal oscillators, bulk acoustic wave (BAW) devices, surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices, and so on. $$GeO_2$$ G e O 2 can also be crystallized into the $$\alpha$$ α -quartz structure and it has better piezoelectric properties, with higher piezoelectric coefficient and electromechanical coupling coefficients, than $$SiO_2$$ S i O 2 . Experiments on bulk crystals and theoretical studies have shown that these properties can be tuned by varying the Si/Ge ratio in the $$Si_xGe_{1-x}O_2$$ S i x G e 1 - x O 2 solid solution. However, to the best of our knowledge, thin films of $$Si_xGe_{1-x}O_2$$ S i x G e 1 - x O 2 quartz have never been reported. Here we present the successful crystallization of $$Si_xGe_{1-x}O_2$$ S i x G e 1 - x O 2 thin films in the $$\alpha$$ α -quartz phase on quartz substrates ($$SiO_2$$ S i O 2 ) with x up to 0.75. Generally, the films grow semi-epitaxially, with the same orientation as the substrates. Interestingly, the $$Si_{0.75}Ge_{0.25}O_2$$ S i 0.75 G e 0.25 O 2 composition grows fully strained by the quartz substrates and this leads to the formation of circular quartz domains with an ordered Dauphiné twin structure. These studies represent a first step towards the optimization of piezoelectric quartz thin films for high frequency (> 5 GHz) applications.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thin films of the $$\alpha$$-quartz $$Si_xGe_{1-x}O_2$$ solid solution

Zhou

Antoja-Lleonart

Ocelík

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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show abstract

“…On the contrary, for the Si x Ge 1−x O 2 thin films on sapphire substrates, an additional nucleation barrier is present. Our recent study on GeO 2 thin films on sapphire substrates has found that the nucleation starts from the top surface of the thin film 53 . Thus, the growth front at the film top is advanced with respect to the growth front at the film bottom, leading to rotation of the lattice during the growth 53 .…”

Section: Crystallization Mechanism Of Simentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Our recent study on GeO 2 thin films on sapphire substrates has found that the nucleation starts from the top surface of the thin film 53 . Thus, the growth front at the film top is advanced with respect to the growth front at the film bottom, leading to rotation of the lattice during the growth 53 . When the nucleation starts from the top, it loses the information from the substrate and results in randomly oriented crystals.…”

Section: Crystallization Mechanism Of Simentioning

confidence: 98%

Thin films of the alpha-quartz SixGe1-xO2 solid-solution

Zhou¹,

Antoja-Lleonart²,

Ocelík³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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SiO 2 with the α-quartz structure is one of the most popular piezoelectrics. It is widely used in crystal oscillators, bulk acoustic wave (BAW) devices, surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices, and so on. GeO 2 can also be crystallized into the α-quartz structure and it has better piezoelectric properties, with higher piezoelectric coefficient and electromechanical coupling coefficients, than SiO 2 . Experiments on bulk crystals and theoretical studies have shown that these properties can be tuned by varying the Si/Ge ratio in the Si x Ge 1−x O 2 solid solution. However, to the best of our knowledge, thin films of Si x Ge 1−x O 2 quartz have never been reported. Here we present the successful crystallization of Si x Ge 1−x O 2 thin films in the α-quartz phase on quartz substrates (SiO 2 ) with x up to 0.75. Generally, the films grow semi-epitaxially, with the same orientation as the substrates. Interestingly, the Si 0.75 Ge 0.25 O 2 composition grows fully strained by the quartz substrates and this leads to the formation of circular quartz domains with an ordered Dauphiné twin structure. These studies represent a first step towards the optimization of piezoelectric quartz thin films for high frequency (> 5 GHz) applications.

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“…10 Spherulitic growth has been observed in isothermally crystallized amorphous thin films and on glass surfaces by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), where confinement of growing crystal by glass offers desirable conditions. Amorphous thin films of SiO 2 1 and GeO 2 1 , 11 were shown to form α-quartz spherulites with gradual lattice bending along individual crystallites (Figure 1B). The authors noted that spherulitic growth occurred only at lower annealing temperatures, transitioning to dendritic and single crystal growth at higher temperatures presumably due to increased chemical mobilities.…”

Section: Lattice Engineering: Bending Twisting and Spherulitic Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Curved lattices of crystals formed in glass

Musterman

Dierolf

Jain

2022

Int J of Appl Glass Sci

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Atomic arrangements systemically deviating from the classic definition of single crystal lattice have been known in spherulites for over a century. However, their unusual curved lattice could not be exploited for useful applications due to their uncontrolled orientations and lattice curvatures. Heating of glass with focused laser, electron, or X-ray beam has yielded well-defined conditions for forming single crystal architectures. Furthermore, by controlling the conditions of irradiation and confinement by glass matrix for a given system, desired lattice curvature (rotations and twists) can be reproducibly introduced into these crystals. Here, we review several examples of laser-fabricated crystals with curved lattices in glass using a common coordinate system, which helps to establish correlations between processing parameters and lattice curvature. The mechanisms of lattice deformations are discussed along with potential methods to control the orientation of the initially formed seeds that determine the lattice orientations of the end product. The recent developments of laser-fabrication of single crystal architectures in glass with controlled heating profile appear promising for engineering the curvature of their lattices.

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Spherulitic and rotational crystal growth of Quartz thin films

Cited by 21 publications

References 33 publications

Thin films of the $$\alpha$$-quartz $$Si_xGe_{1-x}O_2$$ solid solution

Thin films of the $$\alpha$$-quartz $$Si_xGe_{1-x}O_2$$ solid solution

Thin films of the alpha-quartz SixGe1-xO2 solid-solution

Curved lattices of crystals formed in glass

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