Super-tetragonal Sr₄Al₂O₇ as a sacrificial layer for high-integrity freestanding oxide membranes

Identifying a suitable water-soluble sacrificial layer is crucial to fabricating large-scale freestanding oxide membranes, which offer attractive functionalities and integrations with advanced semiconductor technologies. Here, we introduce a water-soluble sacrificial layer, "super-tetragonal" Sr₄Al₂O₇ (SAO_T). The low-symmetric crystal structure enables a superior capability to sustain epitaxial strain, allowing for broad tunability in lattice constants. The resultant structural coherency and defect-free interface in perovskite ABO₃/SAO_T heterostructures effectively restrain crack formation during the water release of freestanding oxide membranes. For a variety of nonferroelectric oxide membranes, the crack-free areas can span up to a millimeter in scale. This compelling feature, combined with the inherent high water solubility, makes SAO_T a versatile and feasible sacrificial layer for producing high-quality freestanding oxide membranes, thereby boosting their potential for innovative device applications.