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    Scanning X-ray nanodiffraction from ferroelectric domains in strained K0.75Na0.25NbO3 epitaxial films grown on (110) TbScO3
    (Copenhagen : Munksgaard, 2017) Schmidbauer, Martin; Hanke, Michael; Kwasniewski, Albert; Braun, Dorothee; von Helden, Leonard; Feldt, Christoph; Leake, Steven John; Schwarzkopf, Jutta
    Scanning X-ray nanodiffraction on a highly periodic ferroelectric domain pattern of a strained K0.75Na0.25NbO3 epitaxial layer has been performed by using a focused X-ray beam of about 100 14;nm probe size. A 90°-rotated domain variant which is aligned along [1 2]TSO has been found in addition to the predominant domain variant where the domains are aligned along the [12]TSO direction of the underlying (110) TbScO3 (TSO) orthorhombic substrate. Owing to the larger elastic strain energy density, the 90°-rotated domains appear with significantly reduced probability. Furthermore, the 90°-rotated variant shows a larger vertical lattice spacing than the 0°-rotated domain variant. Calculations based on linear elasticity theory substantiate that this difference is caused by the elastic anisotropy of the K0.75Na0.25NbO3 epitaxial layer.
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    Role of hole confinement in the recombination properties of InGaN quantum structures
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2019) Anikeeva, M.; Albrecht, M.; Mahler, F.; Tomm, J. W.; Lymperakis, L.; Chèze, C.; Calarco, R.; Neugebauer, J.; Schulz, T.
    We study the isolated contribution of hole localization for well-known charge carrier recombination properties observed in conventional, polar InGaN quantum wells (QWs). This involves the interplay of charge carrier localization and non-radiative transitions, a non-exponential decay of the emission and a specific temperature dependence of the emission, denoted as “s-shape”. We investigate two dimensional In0.25Ga0.75N QWs of single monolayer (ML) thickness, stacked in a superlattice with GaN barriers of 6, 12, 25 and 50 MLs. Our results are based on scanning and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (STEM and HR-TEM), continuous-wave (CW) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements as well as density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We show that the recombination processes in our structures are not affected by polarization fields and electron localization. Nevertheless, we observe all the aforementioned recombination properties typically found in standard polar InGaN quantum wells. Via decreasing the GaN barrier width to 6 MLs and below, the localization of holes in our QWs is strongly reduced. This enhances the influence of non-radiative recombination, resulting in a decreased lifetime of the emission, a weaker spectral dependence of the decay time and a reduced s-shape of the emission peak. These findings suggest that single exponential decay observed in non-polar QWs might be related to an increasing influence of non-radiative transitions.
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    Strain engineering of ferroelectric domains in KxNa1−xNbO3 epitaxial layers
    (Lausanne : Frontiers Media, 2017) Schwarzkopf, Jutta; Braun, Dorothee; Hanke, Michael; Uecker, Reinhard; Schmidbauer, Martin
    The application of lattice strain through epitaxial growth of oxide films on lattice mismatched perovskite-like substrates strongly influences the structural properties of ferroelectric domains and their corresponding piezoelectric behavior. The formation of different ferroelectric phases can be understood by a strain-phase diagram, which is calculated within the framework of the Landau–Ginzburg–Devonshire theory. In this paper, we illustrate the opportunity of ferroelectric domain engineering in the KxNa1−xNbO3 lead-free material system. In particular, the following examples are discussed in detail: (i) Different substrates (NdGaO3, SrTiO3, DyScO3, TbScO3, and GdScO3) are used to systematically tune the incorporated epitaxial strain from compressive to tensile. This can be exploited to adjust the NaNbO3 thin film surface orientation and, concomitantly, the vector of electrical polarization, which rotates from mainly vertical to exclusive in-plane orientation. (ii) In ferroelectric NaNbO3, thin films grown on rare-earth scandate substrates, highly regular stripe domain patterns are observed. By using different film thicknesses, these can be tailored with regard to domain periodicity and vertical polarization component. (iii) A featured potassium concentration of x = 0.9 of KxNa1−xNbO3 thin films grown on (110) NdScO3 substrates favors the coexistence of two equivalent, monoclinic, but differently oriented ferroelectric phases. A complicated herringbone domain pattern is experimentally observed which consists of alternating MC and a1a2 domains. The coexistence of different types of ferroelectric domains leads to polarization discontinuities at the domain walls, potentially enabling high piezoelectric responses. In each of these examples, the experimental results are in excellent agreement with predictions based on the linear elasticity theory.