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Updated: Oct 11, 2025

Tuning Oxide Properties by Oxygen Vacancy Control During Growth and Annealing
Published on: June 9, 2023
Dynamics of Anisotropic Oxygen-Ion Migration in Strained Cobaltites
Qinghua Zhang1,2, Fanqi Meng1, Ang Gao1,3
1Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Abstract:
Orientation control of the oxygen vacancy channel (OVC) is highly desirable for tailoring oxygen diffusion as it serves as a fast transport channel in ion conductors, which is widely exploited in solid-state fuel cells, catalysts, and ion-batteries. Direct observation of oxygen-ion hopping toward preferential vacant sites is a key to clarifying migration pathways. Here we report anisotropic oxygen-ion migration mediated by strain in ultrathin cobaltites via in situ thermal activation in atomic-resolved transmission electron microscopy. Oxygen migration pathways are constructed on the basis of the atomic structure during the OVC switching, which is manifested as the vertical-to-horizontal OVC switching under tensile strain but the horizontal-to-diagonal switching under compression. We evaluate the topotactic structural changes to the OVC, determine the crucial role of the tolerance factor for OVC stability, and establish the strain-dependent phase diagram. Our work provides a practical guide for engineering OVC orientation that is applicable to ionic-oxide electronics.
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