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Interfaces between hexagonal and cubic oxides and their structure alternatives

Zhou H 1 , Wu L 2 , Wang HQ 3 , Zheng JC 4 , Zhang L 5 , Kisslinger K 5 Show all authors , Li Y 1 , Wang Z 1 , Cheng H 1 , Ke S 6 , Li Y 6 , Kang J 1 , Zhu Y 7

Affiliations 

  • 1 Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Semiconductors and Applications, Collaborative Innovation Center for Optoelectronic Semiconductors and Efficient Devices, Department of Physics, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China
  • 2 Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
  • 3 Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Semiconductors and Applications, Collaborative Innovation Center for Optoelectronic Semiconductors and Efficient Devices, Department of Physics, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China. hqwang@xmu.edu.cn
  • 4 Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Semiconductors and Applications, Collaborative Innovation Center for Optoelectronic Semiconductors and Efficient Devices, Department of Physics, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China. jczheng@xmu.edu.cn
  • 5 Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
  • 6 College of Materials Science and Engineering and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China
  • 7 Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA. zhu@bnl.gov
Nat Commun, 2017 11 14;8(1):1474.
PMID: 29133800 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01655-5

Abstract

Multi-layer structure of functional materials often involves the integration of different crystalline phases. The film growth orientation thus frequently exhibits a transformation, owing to multiple possibilities caused by incompatible in-plane structural symmetry. Nevertheless, the detailed mechanism of the transformation has not yet been fully explored. Here we thoroughly probe the heteroepitaxially grown hexagonal zinc oxide (ZnO) films on cubic (001)-magnesium oxide (MgO) substrates using advanced scanning transition electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and first principles calculations, revealing two distinct interface models of (001) ZnO/(001) MgO and (100) ZnO/(001) MgO. We have found that the structure alternatives are controlled thermodynamically by the nucleation, while kinetically by the enhanced Zn adsorption and O diffusion upon the phase transformation. This work not only provides a guideline for the interface fabrication with distinct crystalline phases but also shows how polar and non-polar hexagonal ZnO films might be manipulated on the same cubic substrate.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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