Article published in Nature Communications

In order to bring the diverse functionalities of transition metal oxides into modern electronics, it is imperative to integrate oxide films with controllable properties onto the silicon platform. Asst. prof. dr. M. Spreitzer from the Advanced Materials Department of Jožef Stefan Institute, in collaboration with researchers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and China, participated in the development of the asymmetric LaMnO₃/BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃ superlattices, fabricated on silicon with layer thickness control at the unit-cell level. By harnessing the coherent strain between the constituent layers, researchers overcome the biaxial thermal tension from silicon and stabilize c-axis oriented BaTiO₃ layers with substantially enhanced tetragonality. 

Results of the research were published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, in article entitled »Signatures of enhanced out-of-plane polarization in asymmetric BaTiO₃ superlattices integrated on silicon«. The work was coordinated by Prof. dr. Gertjan Koster, who is a visiting scientist at the Advanced Materials Department of Jožef Stefan Institute.