Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,203 studies31 sourcesUpdated 2 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BYACS nano

Frozen Epitaxial Strain in Complex Oxide Freestanding Membranes.

  • Paul Lenharth1
  • Yuchuan Yao1
  • Shihao Tu1
  • Pratap Pal1
  • Varun Nitin Mapara2
  • Ruiqi Sun1
  • Wuzhang Fang1
  • Peyton Burden3
  • Tula R Paudel3
  • Jason Kawasaki1
  • Uwe Bergmann2
  • Hua Zhou4
2 more authors
  • Yuan Ping1
  • Chang-Beom Eom1
4 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin53706, United States.
  2. 2Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin53706, United States.
  3. 3Department of Physics, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota57701, United States.
  4. 4X-ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois60439, United States.
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Transition metal complex oxides exhibit a diverse array of emergent physical properties engineered through epitaxial strain. However, the interpretation of strain-driven phenomena is often obscured by structural modifications─particularly under in-plane tension─which can trigger unexpected departures from bulk behavior. Here, we report the observation of "frozen epitaxial strain" in complex oxide heterostructures, where epitaxial tensile strain induces a unit-cell volume expansion that remains locked even after complete substrate release. Using synchrotron X-ray diffraction, we quantify this irreversible structural response, demonstrating that the lattice fails to recover its bulk-like dimensions in the freestanding state. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and first-principles calculations reveal that this expansion is stabilized by a high density of tensile strain-promoted oxygen vacancies. These findings establish a fundamental link between epitaxial tension, defect chemistry, and structural "memory," providing critical design rules for the controlled fabrication of functional freestanding membranes and strain-engineered oxide electronics.

Related

  1. Thickness-dependent crack suppression and wrinkle formation in freestanding BaTiO₃ membranes.
    Rajesh Mandal, Ajay Kumar, Nini Pryds
    Journal of materials researchPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textMaterials & polymersEurope PMC
  2. Epitaxial-strain engineering of supported tensile noble metallene oxides for enhanced oxidation catalysis
    Shoujie Zhang, Dong Lin, Anwen Yu +14
    Nature CommunicationsPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textMaterials & polymersCrossref
  3. Bridging the gap between numerics and experiment in freestanding graphene
    Anonymous, Savvas Zafeiropoulos, Christopher Winterowd +1
    Physical review. B./Physical review. BPeer-reviewedLicence not statedFull text7 citedMaterials & polymersOpenAlex
  4. Freestanding FeS2-Integrated Reduced Graphene Oxide Aerogels Enhance Cathode-to-Cell Electron Transfer in Three-Dimensional Living Cathodes
    Jie Cheng, Wangjie Shangguan, Chaolong Wei +5
    ChemRxivPreprintLicence not statedGeneral chemistryChemRxiv
  5. Direct-Write Printing of Freestanding Prussian Blue Analogue Fibers with Tunable Redox Potentials
    Anh Tuan Ngo, João Pedro Vale, Maria Pinto +4
    ChemRxivPreprintCC BYFull textMaterials & polymersChemRxiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{lenharth2026frozen,
  title = {{Frozen Epitaxial Strain in Complex Oxide Freestanding Membranes.}},
  author = {Paul Lenharth and Yuchuan Yao and Shihao Tu and Pratap Pal and Varun Nitin Mapara and Ruiqi Sun and Wuzhang Fang and Peyton Burden and Tula R Paudel and Jason Kawasaki and Uwe Bergmann and Hua Zhou and Yuan Ping and Chang-Beom Eom},
  journal = {ACS nano},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1021/acsnano.6c08965},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42899757},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Frozen Epitaxial Strain in Complex Oxide Freestanding Membranes.
AU  - Paul Lenharth
AU  - Yuchuan Yao
AU  - Shihao Tu
AU  - Pratap Pal
AU  - Varun Nitin Mapara
AU  - Ruiqi Sun
AU  - Wuzhang Fang
AU  - Peyton Burden
AU  - Tula R Paudel
AU  - Jason Kawasaki
AU  - Uwe Bergmann
AU  - Hua Zhou
AU  - Yuan Ping
AU  - Chang-Beom Eom
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - ACS nano
DO  - 10.1021/acsnano.6c08965
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42899757
AB  - Transition metal complex oxides exhibit a diverse array of emergent physical properties engineered through epitaxial strain. However, the interpretation of strain-driven phenomena is often obscured by structural modifications─particularly under in-plane tension─which can trigger unexpected departures from bulk behavior. Here, we report the observation of "frozen epitaxial strain" in complex oxide heterostructures, where epitaxial tensile strain induces a unit-cell volume expansion that remains locked even after complete substrate release. Using synchrotron X-ray diffraction, we quantify this irreversible structural response, demonstrating that the lattice fails to recover its bulk-like dimensions in the freestanding state. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and first-principles calculations reveal that this expansion is stabilized by a high density of tensile strain-promoted oxygen vacancies. These findings establish a fundamental link between epitaxial tension, defect chemistry, and structural "memory," providing critical design rules for the controlled fabrication of functional freestanding membranes and strain-engineered oxide electronics.
SN  - 1936-0851
SN  - 1936-086X
ER  -