SKM 2021 – scientific programme
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KFM: Fachverband Kristalline Festkörper und deren Mikrostruktur
KFM 1: Focus Session I: Ferroics - Domains and Domain Walls
KFM 1.4: Talk
Tuesday, September 28, 2021, 11:00–11:15, H2
Atomic-scale analysis of individual dopants in a functional oxide — •Kasper Hunnestad1, Constantinos Hatzoglou1, Antonius van Helvoort2, and Dennis Meier1 — 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway — 2Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway
Oxide materials exhibit unique electronic and ionic properties that can readily be tuned via compositional variations and local defect chemistry. Intriguing examples are point-defect driven insulator-metal transitions, interfacial magnetism and superconductivity. However, 3D imaging of the individual point defects that are responsible for the emergent phenomena remains a challenge.
Here, we apply atom probe tomography (APT) to overcome this challenge, gaining first experimental insight into the 3D distribution of dopants in the multiferroic oxide ErMn0.998Ti0.002O3. We resolve the position of individual Ti atoms within the crystal lattice, and study local characteristics such as density fluctuations, gradient effects and clustering.
Our results establish a pathway for resolving individual dopants in functional oxides, bringing us an important step closer to understanding the complex atomic-scale physics and ultimately control lattice, charge and spin degrees of freedom at the local scale.