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Identification of kinetic and thermodynamic factors that control crystal nucleation and growth represents a central challenge in materials synthesis. Here we report that apparently defect-free growth of La$_2$MnNiO$_6$ (LMNO) thin films…
Complex oxide functionality, such as ferroelectricity, magnetism or superconductivity is often achieved in epitaxial thin-film geometries. Oxygen vacancies tend to be the dominant type of defect in these materials but a fundamental…
The planar hexagonal phase of ZnO, known as h-ZnO, g-ZnO, {\alpha}-ZnO, the Bk structure, the 5-5 phase, the {\alpha}-BN phase, etc., has P63/mmc symmetry and is implicated in ferroelectric switching mechanisms for wurtzite-ZnO. It is…
The effect of layer-by-layer heterostructuring and epitaxial strain on lattice instabilities and related ferroelectric properties is investigated from first principles for the [001]-(PbTiO$_3$)$_1$(PbZrO$_3$)$_1$ superlattice and pure…
The nucleation mechanisms during solution deposition of organic semiconductor thin films determine the grain morphology and may influence the crystalline packing in some cases. Here, in-situ optical spectromicroscopy in reflection mode is…
Epitaxial strain offers an effective route to tune the physical parameters in transition metal oxides. So far, most studies have focused on the effects of strain on the bandwidths and crystal field splitting, but recent experimental and…
Strontium titanate (SrTiO$_{3}$, STO) stands out as a promising material for various electronic applications thanks to its exceptional dielectric properties. Molecular beam epitaxy is one of the few techniques which allows epitaxial growth…
Interface effects on the ferroelectric behavior of PbTiO$_3$ ultrathin films deposited on SrTiO$_3$ substrate are investigated using an interatomic potential approach with parameters fitted to first-principles calculations. We find that the…
Weakly coupled ferroelectric/dielectric superlattice thin film heterostructures exhibit complex nanoscale polarization configurations that arise from a balance of competing electrostatic, elastic, and domain-wall contributions to the free…
Twisted oxide membranes represent a promising platform for exploring moire physics and emergent quantum phenomena. However, the presence of amorphous interfacial dead layers in conventional oxide heterostructures impedes coherent coupling…
The structural transition at about 1000 {\deg}C, from the hexagonal to the orthorhombic phase of LuFeO3, has been investigated in thin films of LuFeO3. Separation of the two structural phases of LuFeO3 occurs on a length scale of…
Epitaxially strained LaCoO3 (LCO) thin films were grown with different film thickness, t, on (001) oriented (LaAlO3)0.3(SrAl0.5Ta0.5O3)0.7 (LSAT) substrates. After initial pseudomorphic growth the films start to relieve their strain partly…
Thin film synthesis methods developed over the past decades have unlocked emergent interface properties ranging from conductivity to ferroelectricity. However, our attempts to exercise precise control over interfaces are constrained by a…
The surface termination of (100)-oriented LaAlO3 (LAO) single crystals was examined by atomic force microscopy and optimized to produce a single-terminated atomically flat surface by annealing. Then the atomically flat STO film was achieved…
The wealth of complex polar topologies recently found in nanoscale ferroelectrics result from a delicate balance between the materials intrinsic tendency to develop a homogeneous polarization and the electric and mechanic boundary…
With recent advances in strain engineering and its widespread applications, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the effect of biaxial strain on the most common structural phase of perovskites -- the orthorhombic $Pnma$…
Perovskites and related structures are renowned for technologically useful applications. The structural variations in perovskite crystals result in novel properties which can be regulated by external forces. The study attempts to regulate…
We use first-principles calculations to investigate the stability of bi-axially strained \textit{Pnma} perovskite CaMnO$_3$ towards the formation of oxygen vacancies. Our motivation is provided by promising indications that novel material…
The perovskite ruthenates (ARuO3, A = Ca, Ba, or Sr) exhibit unique properties owing to a subtle interplay of crystal structure and electronic-spin degrees of freedom. Here, we demonstrate an intriguing continuous tuning of crystal symmetry…
The nanostructural evolution of the strain-induced structural phase transition in BiFeO3 is examined. Using high-resolution X-ray diffraction and scanning-probe microscopy-based studies we have uniquely identified and examined the numerous…