LSAT (001) termination: An investigation on the influence of annealing parameters on topography

Pranav Pradeep, P and Shyni, PC and Gopal, V and Bhat, SG and Kumar, PSA (2022) LSAT (001) termination: An investigation on the influence of annealing parameters on topography. In: Physica B: Condensed Matter, 640 .

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Abstract

Abstract La0.18Sr0.82Al0.59Ta0.41O3 (LSAT) is a commonly used single-crystalline substrate for the epitaxial growth of thin films. However, a systematic end-to-end study of influential parameters on the surface termination is lacking. In this regard, our extensive investigation provides an insight into various annealing parameters influencing atomic termination on understudied LSAT (001), suggesting a possible inevitable scenario of LSAT termination with concomitant mound formation. Annealing parameter optimizations are directly found to influence SrO mound size and density. Whereas annealing temperature, annealing duration, and rate of heating/cooling affect the step and terrace features. A terrace width as wide as ∼178 nm was achieved. Furthermore, lanthanum vapor aids to reduce SrO mound formation; however, complete removal of the same was not achieved. Altogether, this study presents an alternate insight into a largely unexplored section of LSAT (001) surface termination, which is necessary to have a complete solution for realizing a future mound-free atomic single-termination.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Physica B: Condensed Matter
Publisher:	Elsevier B.V.
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to the Elsevier B.V.
Keywords:	Atomic force microscopy; Atomic termination; LSAT (001); SrO mounds; Steps and terraces
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited:	04 Jul 2022 05:53
Last Modified:	04 Jul 2022 05:53
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/74117

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