2017, Boschker, Jos E., Tisbi, E., Placidi, E., Momand, Jamo, Redaelli, Andrea, Kooi, Bart J., Arciprete, Fabrizio, Calarco, Raffaella

The realization of textured films of 2-dimensionally (2D) bonded materials on amorphous substrates is important for the integration of this material class with silicon based technology. Here, we demonstrate the successful growth by molecular beam epitaxy of textured Sb2Te3 films and GeTe/Sb2Te3 superlattices on two types of amorphous substrates: carbon and SiO2. X-ray diffraction measurements reveal that the out-of-plane alignment of grains in the layers has a mosaic spread with a full width half maximum of 2.8°. We show that a good texture on SiO2 is only obtained for an appropriate surface preparation, which can be performed by ex situ exposure to Ar+ ions or by in situ exposure to an electron beam. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that this surface preparation procedure results in reduced oxygen content. Finally, it is observed that film delamination can occur when a capping layer is deposited on top of a superlattice with a good texture. This is attributed to the stress in the capping layer and can be prevented by using optimized deposition conditions of the capping layer. The obtained results are also relevant to the growth of other 2D materials on amorphous substrates.

2014, Treske, Uwe, Heming, Nadine, Knupfer, Martin, Büchner, Bernd, Koitzsch, Andreas, Di Gennaro, Emiliano, Scotti di Uccio, Umberto, Miletto Granozio, Fabio, Krause, Stefan

LaAlO3 and NdGaO3 thin films of different thicknesses have been grown by pulsed laser deposition on TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 single crystals and investigated by soft X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The surface sensitivity of the measurements has been tuned by varying photon energy hν and emission angle Θ. In contrast to the core levels of the other elements, the Sr 3d line shows an unexpected splitting for higher surface sensitivity, signaling the presence of a second strontium component. From our quantitative analysis we conclude that during the growth process Sr atoms diffuse away from the substrate and segregate at the surface of the heterostructure, possibly forming strontium oxide

2016, Jenichen, B., Herfort, J., Hanke, M., Jahn, U., Kong, X., Dau, M.T., Trampert, A., Kirmse, H., Erwin, S.C.

Co2TiSi films were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs(001) and analyzed using reflection high-energy electron diffraction, and electron microscopy. In addition, X-ray diffraction was combined with lattice parameter calculations by density functional theory comparing the L21 and B2 structures and considering the influence of non-stoichiometry. Columnar growth is found and attributed to inhomogeneous epitaxial strain from non-random alloying. In films with thicknesses up to 13 nm, these columns may be the origin of perpendicular magnetization with the easy axis perpendicular to the sample surface. We found L21 and B2 ordered regions, however the [Co]/[Ti]-ratio is changing in dependence of the position in the film. The resulting columnar structure is leading to anisotropic B2-ordering with the best order parallel to the axes of the columns.

2014, Kauffmann-Weiss, S., Hamann, S., Reichel, L., Siegel, A., Alexandrakis, V., Heller, R., Schultz, L., Ludwig, A., Fähler, S.

Smallest variations of the lattice parameter result in significant changes in material properties. Whereas in bulk, lattice parameters can only be changed by composition or temperature, coherent epitaxial growth of thin films on single crystals allows adjusting the lattice parameters independently. Up to now only discrete values were accessible by using different buffer or substrate materials. We realize a lateral variation of in-plane lattice parameters using combinatorial film deposition of epitaxial Cu-Au on a 4-in. Si wafer. This template gives the possibility to adjust the in-plane lattice parameter over a wide range from 0.365 nm up to 0.382 nm.