A Grease for Domain Walls Motion in HfO2-based Ferroelectrics

A large coercive field EC of HfO2 based ferroelectric devices poses critical performance issues in their applications as ferroelectric memories and ferroelectric field effect transistors. A new design to reduce EC by fabricating nanolaminate Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 / ZrO2 (HZZ) thin films is used, followed by an ensuing annealing process at a comparatively high temperature 700 °C. High-resolution electron microscopy imaging detects tetragonal-like domain walls between orthorhombic polar regions. These walls decrease the potential barrier of polarization reversal in HfO2 based films compared to the conventional domain walls with a single non-polar spacer, causing about a 40% decrease in EC. Capacitance vs. electric field measurements on HZZ thin film uncovered a substantial increase of dielectric permittivity near the EC compared to the conventional Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin film, justifying the higher mobility of domain walls in the developed HZZ film. The tetragonal-like regions served as grease easing the movement of the domain wall and reducing EC

RESEARCH OF AlO и Al NANOPOWDER FORMATION PROCESSES IN PLASMA UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DEFOCUSED DUAL LASER PULSES ON ALUMINUM IN THE AIR ATMOSPHERE

Изучено влияние величины и типа расфокусировки сдвоенных лазерных импульсов на целенаправленное формирование компонентного и зарядового состава лазерной плазмы при воздействии сдвоенных лазерных импульсов на мишень из алюминиевого сплава АД1 (спектрометр LSS-1). Показано, что при расфокусировке более +1 мм интенсивность линии ионов Al III увеличивается в несколько раз в сравнении с нулевой расфокусировкой, интенсивность линий ионов Al II, N II также более менее монотонно увеличивается. Одновременно с этим интенсивность полос AlO практически становится равным нулю. При значении величины расфокусировки 1 мм проведены исследование процессов образования смешанных нанопорошков AlO и Al при воздействии последовательных серий сдвоенных лазерных импульсов энергией 53 мДж и меж-импульсным интервалом 10 мкс на алюминиевую мишень, помещенную в закрытую стеклянную прямоугольную кювету. Размер первичных частиц AlOоцененный с помощью электронной микроскопии высокого разрешения, преимущественно составил 30 - 40 нм, а Al - 45 - 60 нм. Частицы собраны в агломераты. The influence of the magnitude and type of defocusing of twin laser pulses on the purposeful formation of the component and charge composition of laser plasma under the influence of twin laser pulses on a target made of aluminum alloy AD1 (LSS-1 spectrometer) has been studied. It is shown that when defocusing is more than 1 mm, the intensity of the ion line Al III increases several times in comparison with zero defocusing, the intensity of the ion lines Al II, N II also increases more or less monotonously. At the same time, the intensity of the bands AlO practically becomes zero. At the 1 mm defocusing value, the processes of formation of mixed nanopowders were studied and, under the influence of successive series of double laser pulses with the energy of 53 mJ and the inter-pulse interval of the iss on an aluminum target placed in a closed rectangular glass cuvette, the size of primary Al Oparticles estimated using high-resolution electron microscopy was mainly 30 - 40 nm, and Al -45 - 60 nm. The particles are collected into agglomerates.

Preservation of Fluorescence Signal and Imaging Optimization for Integrated Light and Electron Microscopy

Life science research often needs to define where molecules are located within the complex environment of a cell or tissue. Genetically encoded fluorescent proteins and or fluorescence affinity-labeling are the go-to methods. Although recent fluorescent microscopy methods can provide localization of fluorescent molecules with relatively high resolution, an ultrastructural context is missing. This is solved by imaging a region of interest with correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM). We have adopted a protocol that preserves both genetically-encoded and antibody-derived fluorescent signals in resin-embedded cell and tissue samples and provides high-resolution electron microscopy imaging of the same thin section. This method is particularly suitable for dedicated CLEM instruments that combine fluorescence and electron microscopy optics. In addition, we optimized scanning EM imaging parameters for samples of varying thicknesses. These protocols will enable rapid acquisition of CLEM information from samples and can be adapted for three-dimensional EM.

Readout of an antiferromagnetic spintronics system by strong exchange coupling of Mn2Au and Permalloy

In antiferromagnetic spintronics, the read-out of the staggered magnetization or Néel vector is the key obstacle to harnessing the ultra-fast dynamics and stability of antiferromagnets for novel devices. Here, we demonstrate strong exchange coupling of Mn2Au, a unique metallic antiferromagnet that exhibits Néel spin-orbit torques, with thin ferromagnetic Permalloy layers. This allows us to benefit from the well-established read-out methods of ferromagnets, while the essential advantages of antiferromagnetic spintronics are only slightly diminished. We show one-to-one imprinting of the antiferromagnetic on the ferromagnetic domain pattern. Conversely, alignment of the Permalloy magnetization reorients the Mn2Au Néel vector, an effect, which can be restricted to large magnetic fields by tuning the ferromagnetic layer thickness. To understand the origin of the strong coupling, we carry out high resolution electron microscopy imaging and we find that our growth yields an interface with a well-defined morphology that leads to the strong exchange coupling.

Untangling competition between epitaxial strain and growth stress through examination of variations in local oxidation

Understanding oxide formation during corrosion of high-performance alloys in harsh environments is of great fundamental and industrial interest and provides a potential route for reducing the significant annual cost of corrosion globally. However, corrosion mechanisms involve multiple length scales, requiring a multitude of advanced experimental procedures. Here, we use correlated high resolution electron microscopy techniques over a range of length scales, combined with crystallographic modelling to show that there is a clear competition between epitaxial strain and growth stress during oxidation. The degree to which these competing mechanisms operate is shown to depend on the orientation of the substrate grains leading to significant local variations in oxide microstructure and thus protectiveness, even across a single sample. This leads to the possibility of tailoring substrate crystallographic textures in order to promote gradual phase transformation and the development of stress driven, well-oriented protective oxides, and so to improving overall corrosion performance.

Cryo-TEM simulations of amorphous radiation-sensitive samples using multislice wave propagation

Image simulation plays a central role in the development and practice of high-resolution electron microscopy, including transmission electron microscopy of frozen-hydrated specimens (cryo-EM). Simulating images with contrast that matches the contrast observed in experimental images remains challenging, especially for amorphous samples. Current state-of-the-art simulators apply post hoc scaling to approximate empirical solvent contrast, attenuated image intensity due to specimen thickness and amplitude contrast. This practice fails for images that require spatially variable scaling, e.g. simulations of a crowded or cellular environment. Modeling both the signal and the noise accurately is necessary to simulate images of biological specimens with contrast that is correct on an absolute scale. The `frozen plasmon' method is introduced to explicitly model spatially variable inelastic scattering processes in cryo-EM specimens. This approach produces amplitude contrast that depends on the atomic composition of the specimen, reproduces the total inelastic mean free path as observed experimentally and allows for the incorporation of radiation damage in the simulation. These improvements are quantified using the matched filter concept to compare simulation and experiment. The frozen plasmon method, in combination with a new mathematical formulation for accurately sampling the tabulated atomic scattering potentials onto a Cartesian grid, is implemented in the open-source software package cisTEM.