Proton distribution visualization in perovskite nickelate devices utilizing nanofocused x rays

We use a 30-nm x-ray beam to study the spatially resolved properties of a SmNiO3-based nanodevice that is doped with protons. The x-ray absorption spectra supported by density-functional theory simulations show partial reduction of nickel valence in the region with high proton concentration, which l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review materials 2021-09, Vol.5 (9), Article 095003
Main Authors: Zaluzhnyy, Ivan A., Sprau, Peter O., Tran, Richard, Wang, Qi, Zhang, Hai-Tian, Zhang, Zhen, Park, Tae Joon, Hua, Nelson, Stoychev, Boyan, Cherukara, Mathew J., Holt, Martin V., Nazaretski, Evgeny, Huang, Xiaojing, Yan, Hanfei, Pattammattel, Ajith, Chu, Yong S., Ong, Shyue Ping, Ramanathan, Shriram, Shpyrko, Oleg G., Frano, Alex
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
dopants
MATERIALS SCIENCE
metal-insulator transition
perovskite
transition-metal oxides
x-ray absorption spectroscopy
x-ray diffraction
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Summary:We use a 30-nm x-ray beam to study the spatially resolved properties of a SmNiO3-based nanodevice that is doped with protons. The x-ray absorption spectra supported by density-functional theory simulations show partial reduction of nickel valence in the region with high proton concentration, which leads to the insulating behavior. Concurrently, x-ray diffraction reveals only a small lattice distortion in the doped regions. Together, our results directly show that the knob which proton doping modifies is the electronic valency and not the crystal lattice. Overall, the studies are relevant to ongoing efforts to disentangle structural and electronic effects across metal-insulator phase transitions in correlated oxides.
ISSN:2475-9953
2475-9953
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.095003