Descripción del proyecto
THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF OXIDE NANOSTRUCTURES EXHIBIT A STRONG, THOUGH VERY SUBTLE, SENSITIVITY TO STRAIN AND INTERFACIAL STRUCTURE, WITH IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS ON A WIDE RANGE OF INTERESTING FUNCTIONALITIES. THIS BEHAVIOUR APPEARS OFTEN GOVERNED BY A COMPLEX INTERPLAY OF CHEMICAL, ORIENTATIONAL, STRUCTURAL AND ELECTRONIC DEGREES OF FREEDOM, WHOSE RULES ARE NO CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THIS ISSUE THROUGH THE INVESTIGATION FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF I) EPITAXIAL GROWTH AND THREE DIMENSIONAL NANOSTRUCTURE GENERATION MECHANISMS, II) MISFIT RELAXATION MECHANISMS AND INTERFACIAL COUPLING BETWEEN DISSIMILAR STRUCTURES, AND III) THE CORRELATION BETWEEN INTERFACE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES, IN IONIC/ELECTRONIC CONDUCTORS AND MAGNETORESISTIVE OXIDES.THE PROJECT IS FOCUSED ON OXIDE SYSTEMS WHICH HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO PROVIDE IDEAL SCENARIOS FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF SPECIFIC RELAXATION OR INTERFACE COUPLING MECHANISMS, IN CONNECTION WITH THEIR GROWTH MECHANISM AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. AS OPPOSED SCENARIOS, ISOSTRUCTURAL (EG PEROVSKITE ON PEROVSKITE) AND STRUCTURALLY DISSIMILAR (EG FLUORITE ON PEROVSKITE, ROCK-SALT ON PEROVSKITE) SYSTEMS WILL BE INVESTIGATED. SPECIAL EMPHASIS WILL BE GIVEN TO THE GROWTH MECHANISM BY PLD SPECIFIC TO THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF INTERFACES USING IN-SITU REFLECTION HIGH ENERGY ELECTRON DIFFRACTION, THE ATOMIC AND CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF THE INTERFACES BY ADVANCED TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY AND SPECTROSCOPY, AS WELL AS THE STRUCTURE AND MICROSTRUCTURE EVOLUTION OF THIN-FILMS AND MULTILAYERS UPON POST-DEPOSITION TREATMENTS BY IN-SITU X-RAY DIFFRACTION AND IN-SITU TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY.THE PROJECT AIMS TO FIND THE CONDITIONS FOR OBTAINING HIGH QUALITY GROWTH, EITHER 2D (LAYER-BY-LAYER) OR 3D (ISLAND GROWTH), ON A SET OF METAL OXIDE MATERIALS WITH PEROVSKITE-RELATED ABO3 STRUCTURE AND COMBINATIONS OF SIMPLE OXIDES WITH FLUORITE STRUCTURE AOX, IN ORDER TO GROW ARTIFICIAL SUPERLATTICES AS A COMBINATION OF SEVERAL UNIT CELLS OF MATERIALS WITH FLUORITE AND PEROVSKITE STRUCTURE. THE PLD TECHNIQUE WILL BE ADAPTED TO THE GROWTH OF NANOCOMPOSITE THIN FILMS BY EITHER SIMULTANEOUS DEPOSITION OF TWO MATERIALS (TWO DIFFERENT OXIDES, OR METAL-OXIDE COMBINATIONS), OR BY SEQUENTIAL DEPOSITION TO FORM MULTILAYERED OR SELF ASSEMBLED 3D NANOSTRUCTURES.ON THOSE SELECTED COMBINATIONS OF MATERIALS WE WILL CORRELATE THE FILM MICROSTRUCTURE WITH THEIR CHARGE TRANSPORT PROPERTIES, MAINLY THOSE INVOLVING BOTH IONIC AND ELECTRONIC CARRIERS. SPECIAL EMPHASIS WILL BE GIVEN TO THOSE SITUATIONS WHERE NON-NEGLIGIBLE OXYGEN IONIC MOBILITY PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN ESTABLISHING EQUILIBRIUM IN INTERFACIAL REGIONS BEYOND THAT EXPECTED TAKING ONLY INTO CONSIDERATION ELECTRONIC CARRIERS. THIS IS A TYPICAL SITUATION FOR MOST OF THE PERVOSKITE AND FLUORITE MATERIALS WITH OXYGEN VACANCIES IN THE STRUCTURE WHICH ARE MOBILE IN THE TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS FOR FILM DEPOSITION. ALONG WITH WELL ESTABLISHED INTEREST IN ENHANCING HIGH TEMPERATURE IONIC-ELECTRONIC TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF THESE MATERIALS IN VIEW OF THEIR APPLICATION AS ELECTROCHEMICAL DEVICES SUCH AS SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS OR GAS SENSORS, THE PROJECT WILL FACE NEW FUNCTIONALITIES ARISING FROM THE CONTROL OF THE I/V CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OXIDE HETEROJUNCTIONS, WHICH MAY PROMOTE RECTIFYING EFFECTS SUITABLE FOR DIODES OR P-N JUNCTIONS THE EFFECT OF THE APPLICATION OF LARGE ELECTRIC FIELDS WILL ALSO BE ANALYSED IN-SITU BY THE USE OF LOCAL PROBES (C-AFM). APAS DELGADAS DE OXIDOS\PILAS DE COMBUSTIBLE DE OXIDOS SOLIDOS\DISPOSITIVOS FUNCIONALES\TRANSPORTE ELECTRONICO IONICO\FENOMENOS DE INTERCARA\NANOESTRUCTURA\RELAJACION DE TENSIONES\CRECIMIENTO EPITAXIAL