Engineering Symmetry Breaking Interfaces by Nanoscale Structural-Energetics in Orthorhombic Perovskite Thin Films.

ABSTRACT: The atomic configuration of phases and their interfaces is fundamental to materials design and engineering. Here, we unveil a transition metal oxide interface, whose formation is driven by energetic influences─epitaxial tensile strain versus oxygen octahedra connectivity─that compete in determining the orientation of an orthorhombic perovskite film. We study this phenomenon in layers of LaVO₃ grown on (101) DyScO₃, using atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy to measure intrinsic markers of orthorhombic symmetry. We identify that the film resolves this energetic conflict by switching its orientation by 90° at an atomically flat plane within its volume, not at the film-substrate interface. At either side of this "switching plane", characteristic or

SUBMITTER: Alexander DTL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11924306 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature