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arXiv · 2503.10012

Engineered substrates for domain control in CrSe thin-film growth: Single-domain formation on lattice-matched YSZ(111) substrate

Yusuke Tajima·Junichi Shiogai·Masayuki Ochi·Kazutaka Kudo·Jobu Matsuno
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Abstract

Epitaxial thin-film growth is a versatile and powerful technique for achieving a precise control of composition, stabilizing non-equilibrium phases, tailoring growth orientation, as well as forming heterointerfaces of various quantum materials. For synthesis of highly crystalline thin films, in-depth understanding of epitaxial relationship between the desired thin film and the single-crystalline substrates is necessary. In this study, we investigate epitaxial relationship in thin-film growth of triangular-lattice antiferromagnet CrSe on the (001) plane of Al2O3 and the lattice-matched (111) plane of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates. Structural characterization using out-of-plane and in-plane x-ray diffraction shows that the presence of 19.1o-twisted domains of CrSe significantly dominates the aligned domain on the Al2O3 substrate while it reveals a single-domain formation on the YSZ substrate. The stability of the 19.1o-twisted domain rather than the aligned domain can be explained by rotational commensurate epitaxy, which is well reproduced by density functional theory calculations. The single-domain CrSe thin film on the YSZ substrate exhibits a superior metallic conductivity compared to the twisted-domain thin film on the Al2O3 substrate, implying contribution of the grain boundary scattering mechanism to electrical transport.

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Yusuke Tajima, Junichi Shiogai, Masayuki Ochi, Kazutaka Kudo, Jobu Matsuno. 2025-03-13. Engineered substrates for domain control in CrSe thin-film growth: Single-domain formation on lattice-matched YSZ(111) substrate. https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.10012

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