arXiv subjects

Tae Won Noh

Publications and source records attributed to Tae Won Noh.

50 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Interface control of ferroelectricity in a SrRuO3/BaTiO3/SrRuO3 capacitor and its critical thickness

The atomic-scale synthesis of artificial oxide heterostructures offers new opportunities to create novel states that do not occur in nature. The main challenge related to synthesizing these structures is obtaining atomically sharp interfaces with designed termination sequences. Here, we demonstrate that the oxygen pressure (PO2) during growth plays an important role in controlling the interfacial terminations of SrRuO3/BaTiO3/SrRuO3 (SRO/BTO/SRO) ferroelectric capacitors. The SRO/BTO/SRO heterostructures were grown by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. The top SRO/BTO interface grown at high PO2 (around 150 mTorr) usually exhibited a mixture of RuO2-BaO and SrO-TiO2 terminations. By reducing PO2, we obtained atomically sharp SRO/BTO top interfaces with uniform SrO-TiO2 termination. Using capacitor devices with symmetric and uniform interfacial termination, we were able to demonstrate for the first time that the ferroelectric (FE) critical thickness can reach the theoretical limit of 3.5 unit cells (u.c.).

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Induced ferromagnetic moment at the interface between epitaxial SrRuO$_3$ film and Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ single crystal

SrRuO$_3$ (SRO113) is an important material for device physics particularly as one of the best metallic oxide electrodes for ferroelectric devices. This oxide has moderate electron correlations with novel properties including ferromagnetic ordering, which can be utilized in future to spintronics and superconducting spintronics devices. Recently, we observed strongly enhanced magnetization of SRO113 thin films grown on single crystals of the spin-triplet superconductor Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ (SRO214). To clarify the origin of such an enhancement, we conducted systematic investigations of magnetic properties of SRO113 films deposited on a variety of oxide substrates. We carefully subtracted the substrate contributions and found that the enhanced 2 magnetization occurs only for SRO113/SRO214 films. We further found that neither strain nor metallicity of the substrate plays any significant roles in the enhancement. The X-ray magnetic circular dichroism reveals that the substrate-induced strain does not switch the Ru4+ state from the low-spin to high-spin states. The film-thickness dependence of the magnetization of SRO113/SRO214 films strongly suggest that the additional magnetization arises due to the induction of magnetic moment into the SRO214 substrate over 20-nm depth. Our results imply new magnetic functionality that can trigger studies searching for yet unknown physical phenomena in magnetic ruthenates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Electronic Structure of the Kitaev Material $α$-$\textrm{RuCl}_3$ Probed by Photoemission and Inverse Photoemission Spectroscopies

Recently, $α$-$\textrm{RuCl}_3$ has attracted much attention as a possible material realization of the honeycomb Kitaev model, which may stabilize a quantum-spin-liquid state. Compared to extensive studies on its magnetic properties, there is still a lack of understanding on its electronic structure, which is strongly related with its Kitaev physics. Here, the electronic structure of $α$-$\textrm{RuCl}_3$ is investigated by photoemission (PE) and inverse photoemission (IPE) spectroscopies. The band gap, directly measured from PE/IPE spectra, is found to be 1.9 eV, much larger than previous estimations. The LDA calculations show that the on-site Coulomb interaction $\textit{U}$ can open the band gap without spin-orbit coupling (SOC). However, the SOC should also be incorporated to reproduce the proper gap size, indicating that the interplay between $\textit{U}$ and SOC plays an essential role in the physics of $α$-$\textrm{RuCl}_3$. There exist some spectral features in PE/IPE spectra which cannot be explained by the LDA calculations. To explain such discrepancies, we perform the configuration-interaction calculations for a ${\textrm{RuCl}}_6^{3-}$ cluster. The experimental data and calculations demonstrate that the 4$\textit{d}$ compound $α$-$\textrm{RuCl}_3$ is a $J_{\textrm{eff}}$ = 1/2 Mott insulator rather than a quasimolecular-orbital insulator. Our study also provides important physical parameters, required in verifying the proposed Kitaev physics in $α$-$\textrm{RuCl}_3$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Ferromagnetic properties of SrRuO3 thin films deposited on the spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4

We report magnetic properties of epitaxial thin films of the itinerant ferromagnet SrRuO3 deposited on the cleaved ab surface of the spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4. The films exhibit ferromagnetic transition near 160 K as in the bulk SrRuO3, although the films are under 1.7% compressive strain. The observed magnetization is even higher than that of the bulk SrRuO3. In addition, we newly found that the magnetization relaxation after field removal is strongly anisotropic: two relaxation processes are involved when magnetic domains are aligned along the ab-plane.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Latent Instabilities in Metallic LaNiO3 Films by Strain Control of Fermi-Surface Topology

Strain control is one of the most promising avenues to search for new emergent phenomena in transition-metal-oxide films. Here, we investigate the strain-induced changes of electronic structures in strongly correlated LaNiO3 (LNO) films, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and the dynamical mean-field theory. The strongly renormalized eg-orbital bands are systematically rearranged by misfit strain to change its fermiology. As tensile strain increases, the hole pocket centered at the A point elongates along the kz-axis and seems to become open, thus changing Fermi-surface (FS) topology from three- to quasi-two-dimensional. Concomitantly, the FS shape becomes flattened to enhance FS nesting. A FS superstructure with Q1 = (1/2,1/2,1/2) appears in all LNO films, while a tensile-strained LNO film has an additional Q2 = (1/4,1/4,1/4) modulation, indicating that some instabilities are present in metallic LNO films. Charge disproportionation and spin-density-wave fluctuations observed in other nickelates might be their most probable origins.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Ferromagnetic SrRuO3 thin-film deposition on a spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4 with highly conducting interface

Ferromagnetic SrRuO3 thin films are deposited on the ab-surface of single crystals of the spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4 as substrates using pulsed laser deposition. The films are under a severe in-plane compressive strain. Nevertheless, the films exhibit ferromagnetic order with the easy axis along the c-direction below the Curie temperature of 158 K. The electrical transport reveals that the SrRuO3/Sr2RuO4 interface is highly conducting, in contrast with the interface between other normal-metals and the ab-surface of Sr2RuO4. Our results will stimulate the investigations on proximity effects between a ferromagnet and a spin-triplet superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Dimensionality Control of d-orbital Occupation in Oxide Superlattices

Manipulating the orbital state in a strongly correlated electron system is of fundamental and technological importance for exploring and developing novel electronic phases. Here, we report an unambiguous demonstration of orbital occupancy control between t2g and eg multiplets in quasi-twodimensional transition metal oxide superlattices (SLs) composed of a Mott insulator LaCoO3 and a band insulator LaAlO3. As the LaCoO3 sublayer thickness approaches its fundamental limit (i.e. one unit-cell-thick), the electronic state of the SLs changed from a Mott insulator, in which both t2g and eg orbitals are partially filled, to a band insulator by completely filling (emptying) the t2g (eg) orbitals. We found the reduction of dimensionality has a profound effect on the electronic structure evolution, which is, whereas, insensitive to the epitaxial strain. The remarkable orbital controllability shown here offers a promising pathway for novel applications such as catalysis and photovoltaics, where the energy of d level is an essential parameter.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Dimensional crossover of the electronic structure in LaNiO3 ultrathin films: Orbital reconstruction, Fermi surface nesting, and the origin of the metal-insulator transition

Dimensionality control in the LaNiO3 (LNO) heterostructure has attracted attention due to its two-dimensional (2D) electronic structure was predicted to have an orbital ordered insulating ground state, analogous to that of the parent compound of high-Tc cuprate superconductors [P. Hansmann et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 016401 (2009)]. Here, we directly measured the electronic structure of LNO ultrathin films using in situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). We recognized the dimensional crossover of the electronic structure around 3-unit cells (UC)-thick LNO film and observed the orbital reconstruction. However, complete orbital ordering was not achieved. Instead, we observed that the Fermi surface nesting effect became strong in the 2D LNO ultrathin film. These results indicated that the orbital reconstruction should be described by taking into account the strong nesting effect to search for the novel phenomena, such as superconductivity in 2D LNO heterostructure. In addition, the APRES spectra showed that the Fermi surface existed down to a 1-UC-thick film, which showed insulating behavior in transport measurements. We suggested that the metal-insulator transition in the transport properties may originate from Anderson localization.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Two opposite hysteresis curves in semiconductors with mobile dopants

Recent experimental researches on semiconductors with mobile dopants (SMD) have reported unconventional hysteretic current-voltage (I-V) curves, which form dynamically in either one of the two opposite directions, the counter-figure-eight and figure-eight ways. However the fundamental theory for the formation of the two directions is still absent, and this poses a major barrier for researches oriented to applications. Here, we introduce a theoretical model to explain the origin of the two directions, and find that the two ways originate from the spatial inhomogeneity of the dopant distribution in SMD. The counter-figure-eight (figure-eight) way of the hysteretic curve is obtained when dopants are driven from far from (near) the Schottky interface to the opposite side in the SMD. This finding indicates that the directions of hysteretic curve in SMD can be controlled.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Selective growth of perovskite oxides on SrTiO3 (001) by control of surface reconstructions

We report surface reconstruction (RC)-dependent growths of SrTiO3 and SrVO3 on a SrTiO3 (001) surface with two different coexisting surface RCs, namely (2x1) and c(6x2). Up to the coverage of several layers, epitaxial growth was forbidden on the c(6x2) RC under the growth conditions that permitted layer-by-layer epitaxial growth on the (2x1) RC. Scanning tunneling microscopy examination of the lattice structure of the c(6x2) RC revealed that this RC-selective growth mainly originated from the significant structural/stoichiometric dissimilarity between the c(6x2) RC and the cubic perovskite films. As a result, the formation of SrTiO3 islands was forbidden from the nucleation stage.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Dimensional crossover of polaron dynamics in Nb:SrTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices: Possible mechanism of thermopower enhancement

Using optical spectroscopy, we investigated the electrodynamic properties of Nb:SrTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices. In these superlattices, a large enhancement of the Seebeck coefficient (S) has been reported with decreasing Nb:SrTiO3 layer thickness [refer to H. Ohta et al., Nature Mater. 6, 129 (2007)]. By analyzing the optical spectra, we found that the polaron plays an important role in determining the electrodynamic properties of the superlattices. With decreasing Nb:SrTiO3 layer thickness from eleven to one unit cell, we observed a threefold enhancement of the polaron effective mass and relaxation time. Such increases were attributed to a dimensional crossover of polaron from 3D to quasi-2D. Moreover, the modified nature of the polaron at low dimensions enhanced the thermoelectric properties of the oxide superlattice, by simultaneously increasing S and preventing the decrease of carrier mobility. Our results indicate that strong electron-phonon coupling can provide an alternative pathway in searching efficient thermoelectric materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Double polarization hysteresis loop induced by the domain pinning by defect dipoles in HoMnO3 epitaxial thin films

We report on antiferroelectriclike double polarization hysteresis loops in multiferroic HoMnO3 thin films below the ferroelectric Curie temperature. This intriguing phenomenon is attributed to the domain pinning by defect dipoles which were introduced unintentionally during film growth process. Electron paramagnetic resonance suggests the existence of Fe1+ defects in thin films and first principles calculations reveal that the defect dipoles would be composed of oxygen vacancy and Fe1+ defect. We discuss migration of charged point defects during film growth process and formation of defect dipoles along ferroelectric polarization direction, based on the site preference of point defects. Due to a high-temperature low-symmetry structure of HoMnO3, aging is not required to form the defect dipoles in contrast to other ferroelectrics (e.g., BaTiO3).

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Optical spectroscopic investigation on the coupling of electronic and magnetic structure in multiferroic hexagonal RMnO3 (R = Gd, Tb, Dy, and Ho) thin films

We investigated the effects of temperature and magnetic field on the electronic structure of hexagonal RMnO3 (R = Gd, Tb, Dy, and Ho) thin films using optical spectroscopy. As the magnetic ordering of the system was disturbed, a systematic change in the electronic structure was commonly identified in this series. The optical absorption peak near 1.7 eV showed an unexpectedly large shift of more than 150 meV from 300 K to 15 K, accompanied by an anomaly of the shift at the Neel temperature. The magnetic field dependent measurement clearly revealed a sizable shift of the corresponding peak when a high magnetic field was applied. Our findings indicated strong coupling between the magnetic ordering and the electronic structure in the multiferroic hexagonal RMnO3 compounds.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Ferroelectricity in artificial bicolor oxide superlattices

We report on the growth and properties of high quality bicolor oxide superlattices, composed of two perovskites out of BaTiO3, CaTiO3, and SrTiO3. The artificially grown superlattices are structurally unique and have a macroscopically homogeneous phase, which is not feasible to recreate in bulk form. By artificial structuring, it is found that the polarization of such superlattices can be highly increased as compared to pseudo-binary ceramics with the same overall composition. Such strong enhancement in superlattice is attributed to newly-developed ionic motions of A-site cations at the hetero-interfaces due to the interfacial coupling of electrostatic and elastic interactions, which cannot be found in single phase materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗