Molecular Beam Epitaxy of AgTaO3
Abstract
We report the first synthesis of single-crystal AgTaO3 thin films using molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). High-quality epitaxial AgTaO3 films were grown on both (001)- and (111)-oriented SrTiO3 substrates using sequential deposition of atomic silver and TaO2 layers under an ozone/oxygen atmosphere (80 % O3 + 20 % O2). X-ray diffrac- tion and reciprocal space mapping demonstrate that the films are coherently strained to the SrTiO3 substrates with sharp rocking curves comparable to the substrates, indicating high structural perfection. High-angle annular dark-field scanning trans- mission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) confirms coherent, low defect growth for (001)pc-oriented films. For (111)pc-oriented films, initial coherent growth proceeds up to 10 nm before transitioning into a Ta-rich surface region. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) reveals a narrow cation intermixing region at the sub- strate interface for both orientations. This work demonstrates an effective synthesis route for single-crystal AgTaO3 thin films, providing a platform to investigate strain engineering and emergent interfacial properties in silver-based tantalates.
Related
- Nanocrystalline cubic boron arsenide growth on GaAs(100) by gas source molecular beam epitaxy
- Growth-induced trade-off between polarity, electrical isolation, and structural quality in AlN grown on Si(111) by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy
- Atomistic modeling of molecular beam epitaxy growth of SrTiO3 and Sr2TiO4 thin films
- Molecular Beam Epitaxy of Al(1-x)Sc(x)N Nanowires: Towards Group-III Nitride Piezoelectric Nanogenerators with Enhanced Response
- Enhanced thermal conductivity of (010) (AlxGa1-x)2O3 epitaxial films utilizing indium-catalyzed molecular beam epitaxy
BibTeX
@misc{schwaigert2026molecular,
title = {{Molecular Beam Epitaxy of AgTaO3}},
author = {Tobias Schwaigert and Joshua Maile and Olivia Peek and Eric Biedke and Paul T. Malinowski and Kyle M. Shen and Salva Salmani-Rezaie and Darrell G. Schlom and Kaveh Ahadi},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.30229},
eprint = {2609.30229},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30229},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Molecular Beam Epitaxy of AgTaO3
AU - Tobias Schwaigert
AU - Joshua Maile
AU - Olivia Peek
AU - Eric Biedke
AU - Paul T. Malinowski
AU - Kyle M. Shen
AU - Salva Salmani-Rezaie
AU - Darrell G. Schlom
AU - Kaveh Ahadi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/24
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.30229
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30229
AB - We report the first synthesis of single-crystal AgTaO3 thin films using molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). High-quality epitaxial AgTaO3 films were grown on both (001)- and (111)-oriented SrTiO3 substrates using sequential deposition of atomic silver and TaO2 layers under an ozone/oxygen atmosphere (80 % O3 + 20 % O2). X-ray diffrac- tion and reciprocal space mapping demonstrate that the films are coherently strained to the SrTiO3 substrates with sharp rocking curves comparable to the substrates, indicating high structural perfection. High-angle annular dark-field scanning trans- mission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) confirms coherent, low defect growth for (001)pc-oriented films. For (111)pc-oriented films, initial coherent growth proceeds up to 10 nm before transitioning into a Ta-rich surface region. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) reveals a narrow cation intermixing region at the sub- strate interface for both orientations. This work demonstrates an effective synthesis route for single-crystal AgTaO3 thin films, providing a platform to investigate strain engineering and emergent interfacial properties in silver-based tantalates.
ER -