Engineered interfaces of artificial perovskite oxide superlattices via nanosheet deposition process.

Li, Bao-Wen; Osada, Minoru; Ozawa, Tadashi C; Ebina, Yasuo; Akatsuka, Kosho; Ma, Renzhi; Funakubo, Hiroshi; Sasaki, Takayoshi · ACS Nano · 2010

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Combining different materials into desired superlattice structures can produce new electronic states at the interface and the opportunity to create artificial materials with novel properties. Here we introduce a new, rather unexpected, and yet simple way to such a superlattice assembly of perovskite oxides: in the Dion-Jacobson phase, a model system of layered perovskites, high-quality bicolor perovskite superlattices (LaNb(2)O(7))(nL)(Ca(2)Nb(3)O(10))(nC) are successfully fabricated by a layer-by-layer assembly using two different perovskite nanosheets (LaNb(2)O(7) and Ca(2)Nb(3)O(10)) as a building block. The artificially fabricated (LaNb(2)O(7)/Ca(2)Nb(3)O(10)) superlattices are structurally unique, which is not feasible to create in the bulk form. By such an artificial structuring, we found that (LaNb(2)O(7)/Ca(2)Nb(3)O(10)) superlattices possess a new form of interface coupling, which gives rise to ferroelectricity.