Oxygen vacancies in strained SrTiO${}_3$ thin films: formation enthalpy and manipulation

Abstract

We report the enthalpy of oxygen vacancy formation in thin films of electron-doped SrTiO${}_3$, under different degrees of epitaxial stress. We demonstrate that both compressive and tensile strain decrease this energy at a very similar rate, and promote the formation of stable doubly ionized oxygen vacancies. Moreover, we also show that unintentional cationic vacancies introduced under typical growth conditions, produce a characteristic rotation pattern of TiO${}_6$ octahedra. The local concentration of oxygen vacancies can be modulated by an electric field with an AFM tip, changing not only the local electrical potential, but also producing a non-volatile mechanical response whose sign (up/down) can be reversed by the electric field.

Physical Review B (accepted for publication)

References in corpus (4)

• Enhancing Perovskite Electrocatalysis through Strain Tuning of the Oxygen Deficiency
• Strain Control of Oxygen Vacancies in Epitaxial Strontium Cobaltite Films
• Electron degeneracy and intrinsic magnetic properties of epitaxial Nb:SrTiO${}_3$ thin-films controlled by defects
• Oxygen Vacancies on SrO-terminated SrTiO3(001) Surfaces studied by Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Tunable resistivity exponents in the metallic phase of epitaxial nickelates
• Understanding the lattice thermal conductivity of SrTiO3 from an ab initio perspective
• Ferromagnetic and insulating behavior of LaCoO3 films grown on a (001) SrTiO3 substrate. A simple ionic picture explained ab initio
• Tuning oxygen vacancy diffusion through strain in SrTiO${}_3$ thin films