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Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Published on: March 24, 2019
Influence of misfit dislocations on the phase transition of iron(iii) oxides
Van-Hien Hoang1, Nam-Suk Lee2, Heon-Jung Kim1,3
1Department of Physics, Graduate School, Daegu University Gyeongbuk 38453 Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
Dislocations commonly occur in thin films under large misfit strain due to the accumulation of strain energy, significantly altering the films' properties. This study investigates the microstructure of Fe2O3 polymorphs in films of various thicknesses deposited on yttria-stabilized zirconia (001) substrates. The results reveal that the ε-Fe2O3 phase is formed and stabilized at thicknesses below a critical threshold of 20 nm. Beyond this threshold, the volume fraction of the ε-Fe2O3 phase decreases, and the α-Fe2O3 phase begins to emerge. With further increases in thickness, the ε-Fe2O3 phase fully transforms into the α-Fe2O3 phase. Detailed analysis suggests that this phase transformation is driven by the formation of misfit dislocations at the film/substrate interface, which compensates for the tensile strain induced by the substrate.
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