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Bulk and Thin Film Synthesis of Compositionally Variant Entropy-stabilized Oxides
Published on: May 29, 2018
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Deciphering phase evolution in complex metal oxide thin films via high-throughput materials synthesis and
Ruoshui Li1,2, Xuance Jiang1,3, Chenyu Zhou1
1Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, United States of America.
Nanotechnology
|December 20, 2022
Summary
High-throughput synthesis of titanium-zinc oxide thin films reveals structure-property relationships. Five distinct phases were identified, enabling continuous tuning of optical properties.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Solid State Physics
- Thin Film Technology
Background:
- Understanding structure-property relationships in complex metal oxides is crucial for developing new functional materials.
- High-throughput synthesis and characterization accelerate the discovery of novel material properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate the discovery of structure-property relationships in thin film alloys of complex metal oxides using high-throughput methods.
- To explore the properties of binary transition metal oxides (Ti-Zn) as a case study.
Main Methods:
- Combinatorial thin film synthesis of Ti-Zn oxides using pulsed laser deposition with a continuously varying Ti:Zn ratio.
- Spatially resolved characterization including X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structures (XANES), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-ray Diffraction, and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry.
- Multivariate Curve Resolution Analysis (MCR) applied to XANES spectral series, constrained by other characterization data.
- First-principles computations based on Density Functional Theory (DFT).
Main Results:
- Five distinguishable phases in Ti-Zn oxide thin films were resolved as a function of Ti:Zn ratio.
- Observed properties of each phase were correlated with structural and spectral characteristics of crystalline polymorphs.
- Continuous tuning of the optical absorption edge was achieved, including the observation of negative optical bowing.
- Structure-property relationships were successfully established for the Ti-Zn oxide system.
Conclusions:
- High-throughput synthesis and characterization are effective for discovering structure-property relationships in complex oxide thin films.
- The identified phases and their properties provide a foundation for tuning the functional characteristics of Ti-Zn oxides.
- The study exemplifies the power of integrated computational and experimental approaches in materials discovery.
