AVS 63rd International Symposium & Exhibition
    Scanning Probe Microscopy Focus Topic Tuesday Sessions
       Session SP+AS+MI+NS+SS-TuM

Paper SP+AS+MI+NS+SS-TuM1
In Situ Probing of Oxygen Vacancy Diffusion Across Multilayer Oxide Heterostructures

Tuesday, November 8, 2016, 8:00 am, Room 104A

Session: Probing Chemical Reactions at the Nanoscale
Presenter: Stephen Nonnenmann, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Authors: J. Zhu, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
J.-W. Lee, University of Wisconsin - Madison
H. Lee, University of Wisconsin - Madison
R. DeSouza, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
C.-B. Eom, University of Wisconsin - Madison
S.S. Nonnenmann, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Correspondent: Click to Email
Complex oxide heterostructures display an extraordinary array of exotic collective and correlated physical phenomena that result from exploiting the strong interplay between structural and electronic degrees of freedom. Oxygen vacancies often facilitate or govern the interfacial phenomenon observed at or across well-defined discrete interfaces, ranging from domain wall pinning within ferroic systems to electron donors in conducting systems. Realization of multifunctionality within oxide heterostructures therefore necessitates a direct, proper understanding of the interrelationship exhibited by concomitant, defect-mediated transport mechanisms with adequate spatial resolution. Here we utilize a modified, in situ scanning probe technique to measure the surface potential across a multi-layered yttria-stabilized zirconia / strontium titanate (YSZ/STO) heterostructured film at 500 °C. Subsequent application of a classic semiconductor dopant formalism to the work function profile derived from the surface potential enables mapping of the oxygen vacancy distribution within STO with a resolution < 100 nm. The results presented herein demonstrate the promise of in situ scanning surface potential microscopy (SSPM) to investigate complex oxide interfacial systems multilayers that exhibit vacancy-dominated properties, under extreme environmental perturbation, on a highly localized scale.