Atomic-resolution imaging of spin-state superlattices in nanopockets within cobaltite thin films.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 21309549.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/nl1034896.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Certain cobalt oxides are known to exhibit ordered Co spin states, as determined from macroscopic techniques. Here we report real-space atomic-resolution imaging of Co spin-state ordering in nanopockets of La(0.5)Sr(0.5)CoO(3-δ) thin films. Unlike the bulk material, where no Co spin-state ordering is found, thin films present a strain-induced domain structure due to oxygen vacancy ordering, inside of which some nanometer sized domains show high-spin Co ions in the planes containing O vacancies and low-spin Co ions in the stoichiometric planes. First-principles calculations provide support for this interpretation.