Synthesis of Samarium Nitride Thin Films on Magnesium Oxide (001) Substrates Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Rare-earth nitrides are an exciting family of materials with a wide variety of properties desirable for new physics and applications in spintronics and superconducting devices. Among them, samarium nitride is an interesting compound reported to have ferromagnetic behavior coupled with the potential...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Crystals (Basel) 2024-09, Vol.14 (9), p.765
Main Authors: Vallejo, Kevin D., Cresswell, Zachery E., Buturlim, Volodymyr, Newell, Brian S., Gofryk, Krzysztof, May, Brelon J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemical synthesis
Chromium nitride
Dielectric films
Epitaxial growth
Epitaxy
Ferromagnetic materials
Ferromagnetism
Magnesium oxide
Metal nitrides
Molecular beam epitaxy
Nitrides
Oxidation
P waves
Phase transitions
Radiation
Rare earth elements
rare-earth nitrides
Samarium
samarium nitride
Spintronics
Substrates
Superconducting devices
Superconductivity
Superconductors
Superconductors (materials)
Symmetry
Technology application
Temperature
Thin films
Transition metals
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Summary:Rare-earth nitrides are an exciting family of materials with a wide variety of properties desirable for new physics and applications in spintronics and superconducting devices. Among them, samarium nitride is an interesting compound reported to have ferromagnetic behavior coupled with the potential existence of p-wave superconductivity. Synthesis of high-quality thin films is essential in order to manifest these behaviors and understand the impact that vacancies, structural distortions, and doping can have on these properties. In this study, we report the synthesis of samarium nitride monocrystalline thin films on magnesium oxide (001) substrates with a chromium nitride capping layer using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). We observed a high-quality monocrystalline SmN film with matching orientation to the substrate, then optimized the growth temperature. Despite the initial 2 nm of growth showing formation of a potential samarium oxide layer, the subsequent layers showed high-quality SmN, with semiconducting behavior revealed by an increase in resistivity with decreasing temperature. These promising results highlight the importance of studying diverse heteroepitaxial schemes and open the door for integration of rare-earth nitrides and transition metal nitrides for future spintronic devices.
ISSN:2073-4352
2073-4352
DOI:10.3390/cryst14090765