Strain, Young’s modulus, and structural transition of EuTiO3 thin films probed by micro-mechanical methods
Journal article, 2023
EuTiO3 (ETO) is a well-known complex oxide mainly investigated for its magnetic properties and its incipient ferro-electricity. In this work, we demonstrate the realization of suspended micro-mechanical structures, such as cantilevers and micro-bridges, from 100 nm-thick single-crystal epitaxial ETO films deposited on top of SrTiO3(100) substrates. By combining profile analysis and resonance frequency measurements of these devices, we obtain the Young’s modulus, strain, and strain gradients of the ETO thin films. Moreover, we investigate the ETO anti-ferro-distortive transition by temperature-dependent characterizations, which show a non-monotonic and hysteretic mechanical response. The comparison between experimental and literature data allows us to weight the contribution from thermal expansion and softening to the tuning slope, while a full understanding of the origin of such a wide hysteresis is still missing. We also discuss the influence of oxygen vacancies on the reported mechanical properties by comparing stoichiometric and oxygen-deficient samples.
Author
Nicola Manca
Superconductors, oxides and other innovative materials and devices
Gaia Tarsi
University of Genoa
Alexei Kalaboukhov
Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Quantum Device Physics
Francesco Bisio
Superconductors, oxides and other innovative materials and devices
Federico Caglieris
Superconductors, oxides and other innovative materials and devices
Floriana Lombardi
Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Quantum Device Physics
Daniele Marré
University of Genoa
Superconductors, oxides and other innovative materials and devices
Luca Pellegrino
Superconductors, oxides and other innovative materials and devices
APL Materials
2166-532X (eISSN)
Vol. 11 10 101107Oxide Nanoelectromechanical Systems for Ultrasensitive and Robust Sensing of Biomagnetic Fields (Oxinems)
European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/828784), 2019-05-01 -- 2023-04-30.
Subject Categories
Condensed Matter Physics
DOI
10.1063/5.0166762