No Arabic abstract
Skyrmions are localized magnetic spin textures whose stability has been shown theoretically to depend on material parameters including bulk Dresselhaus spin orbit coupling (SOC), interfacial Rashba SOC, and magnetic anisotropy. Here, we establish the growth of a new class of artificial skyrmion materials, namely B20 superlattices, where these parameters could be systematically tuned. Specifically, we report the successful growth of B20 superlattices comprised of single crystal thin films of FeGe, MnGe, and CrGe on Si(111) substrates. Thin films and superlattices are grown by molecular beam epitaxy and are characterized through a combination of reflection high energy electron diffraction, x-ray diffraction, and cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS) distinguishes layers by elemental mapping and indicates good interface quality with relatively low levels of intermixing in the [CrGe/MnGe/FeGe] superlattice. This demonstration of epitaxial, single-crystalline B20 superlattices is a significant advance toward tunable skyrmion systems for fundamental scientific studies and applications in magnetic storage and logic.
The Pd, and Pt based ABO2 delafossites are a unique class of layered, triangular oxides with 2D electronic structure and a large conductivity that rivals the noble metals. Here, we report successful growth of the metallic delafossite PdCoO2 by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The key challenge is controlling the oxidation of Pd in the MBE environment where phase-segregation is driven by the reduction of PdCoO2 to cobalt oxide and metallic palladium. This is overcome by combining low temperature (300 {deg}C) atomic layer-by-layer MBE growth in the presence of reactive atomic oxygen with a post-growth high-temperature anneal. Thickness dependence (5-265 nm) reveals that in the thin regime (<75 nm), the resistivity scales inversely with thickness, likely dominated by surface scattering; for thicker films the resistivity approaches the values reported for the best bulk-crystals at room temperature, but the low temperature resistivity is limited by structural twins. This work shows that the combination of MBE growth and a post-growth anneal provides a route to creating high quality films in this interesting family of layered, triangular oxides.
Materials with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) effect with high Curie temperature ($T_C$) is essential in applications. In this work, $Cr_2Te_3$ thin films showing PMA with $T_C$ ranging from 165 K to 295 K were successfully grown on $Al_2O_3$ by the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique. The structural analysis, magneto-transport and magnetic characterizations were conducted to study the physical origin of the improved $T_C$. In particular, ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering competition were investigated. A phenomenological model based on the coupling degree between FM and AFM ordering was proposed to explain the observed $T_C$ enhancement. Our findings indicate that the $T_C$ of $Cr_2Te_3$ thin film can be tuned, which make it hold the potential for various magnetic applications.
The growth of single layer graphene nanometer size domains by solid carbon source molecular beam epitaxy on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) flakes is demonstrated. Formation of single-layer graphene is clearly apparent in Raman spectra which display sharp optical phonon bands. Atomic-force microscope images and Raman maps reveal that the graphene grown depends on the surface morphology of the h-BN substrates. The growth is governed by the high mobility of the carbon atoms on the h-BN surface, in a manner that is consistent with van der Waals epitaxy. The successful growth of graphene layers depends on the substrate temperature, but is independent of the incident flux of carbon atoms.
We report on the growth of epitaxial Sr2RuO4 films using a hybrid molecular beam epitaxy approach in which a volatile precursor containing RuO4 is used to supply ruthenium and oxygen. The use of the precursor overcomes a number of issues encountered in traditional MBE that uses elemental metal sources. Phase-pure, epitaxial thin films of Sr2RuO4 are obtained. At high substrate temperatures, growth proceeds in a layer-by-layer mode with intensity oscillations observed in reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Films are of high structural quality, as documented by x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The method should be suitable for the growth of other complex oxides containing ruthenium, opening up opportunities to investigate thin films that host rich exotic ground states.
SrMoO$_3$ is a promising material for its excellent electrical conductivity, but growing high-quality thin films remains a challenge. Here we synthesized epitaxial films of SrMoO$_3$ using the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique under a low oxygen-flow rate. Introduction of SrTiO$_3$ buffer layers of 4--8 unit cells between the film and the (001)-oriented SrTiO$_3$ or KTaO$_3$ substrate was crucial to remove impurities and/or roughness of the film surface. The obtained film shows improved electrical conductivities as compared with films obtained by other techniques. The high quality of the SrMoO$_3$ film is also verified by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements showing clear Fermi surfaces.