Epitaxy enhancement in oxide/tungsten heterostructures by harnessing the interface adhesion

• The conditions whereby epitaxy is achieved are commonly believed to be mostly governed by misfit strain. We report on a systematic investigation of growth and interface structure of single crystalline tungsten thin films on two different metal oxide substrates, Al2O3 (11 (2) over bar0) and MgO (001). We demonstrate that despite a significant mismatch, enhanced crystal quality is observed for tungsten grown on the sapphire substrates. This is promoted by stronger adhesion and chemical bonding with sapphire compared to magnesium oxide, along with the restructuring of the tungsten layers close to the interface. The latter is supported by ab initio calculations using density functional theory. Finally, we demonstrate the growth of magnetic heterostructures consisting of high-quality tungsten layers in combination with ferromagnetic CoFe layers, which are relevant for spintronic applications.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Den kondenserade materiens fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Condensed Matter Physics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Epitaxy

Interface

Crystal structure

Scattering

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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