Super-flexibility in Freestanding Single-Crystal SrRuO₃ Conductive Oxide Membranes

Abstract

Conductive oxides are considered to be attractive electrodes in electronic applications such as piezoelectric, energy storage, and semiconductor devices due to their good electrical conductivity and compatibility with other functional oxides. However, conductive oxides are generally brittle, which limits their applications in flexible electronic devices. Here, freestanding single-crystal SrRuO 3 membranes have been prepared by etching a sacrificial layer. The prepared membranes can be buckled into sinusoidal shapes of different sizes, indicating that the membranes are super-flexible. The mechanical properties were performed on the well-strained membranes, and the Young's modulus of the 12 nm-thick SrRuO 3 membrane was found to be 34.65 GPa via the buckling method, which is approximately 21% of the bulk SrRuO 3 . The corresponding super-flexibility mechanism is attributed to the high defect density and small specific surface area. The SrRuO 3 films maintain the resistivity before and after transferring in the range of 1.4 × 10 −4 to 5.2 × 10 −4 Ω cm that can be used as electrode materials. This work provides a realistic strategy for the superflexibility transition of the single-crystal SrRuO 3 conductive oxide membranes from brittleness, which paves the way for their application in flexible electronics devices.

3D Nanocomposite Thin Film Cathodes for Micro‐Batteries with Enhanced High‐Rate Electrochemical Performance over Planar Films

“…However, since the (00l) SRO peaks are not observed in 2θ‐ω scans, this indicates that the LMO phase is controlling the lattice parameter of the SRO along the c‐axis by vertical epitaxy. This is understandable because the stiffer LMO (Young's modulus of thin films Y LMO ≈200 GPa [ 52 ] >> Y SRO ≈40–160 GPa [ 53 ] ) acts as scaffold phase for the nanopillars, maintaining constant strain with thickness, as has been observed in many other VAN systems. [ 54–56 ]…”

Nanoscale Engineering of P‐Block Metal‐Based Catalysts Toward Industrial‐Scale Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

“…Moreover, as the number of layers decreases, the specific surface area increases sharply, [65] as illustrated in Figure 6c. Asincreased specific surface area can expose more active sites and generate more low-coordination sites, thereby improving catalytic performance.…”

Robust Strain in Freestanding Single-Crystal SrRuO3 Membranes

“…As one of the most widely used oxide electrode materials in functional oxide heterostructures, − SrRuO 3 (SRO) has good thermochemical stability and high conductivity at room temperature, as well as a close lattice match with many functional perovskite oxides. In addition, SRO is also a promising candidate for next-generation spintronic applications due to the itinerant ferromagnetism, perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and strong spin–orbital coupling. − The high-quality freestanding SRO membranes have been intensively studied. − The transfer of high-quality freestanding SRO membranes with metallic conductivity onto silicon wafers is of great significance for the integration of multifunctional oxides and silicon wafers . It is difficult to transfer freestanding multilayer heterostructures due to the complex stress between multilayer heterostructures.…”

“…Besides, given that the freestanding SRO ultrathin film has the characteristic of super flexibility, , the transfer of freestanding SRO ultrathin films to flexible substrates plays an essential role in the development of flexible electronic/spintronic devices. However, it is generally believed that the epitaxial strain on single-crystal membranes is released after it is detached from the substrate. ,, The strain-enhanced physical properties of epitaxial SRO are likely degraded or disappear accompanied by the crystal structural deformation due to strain release, leading to a limitation in the heterostructure integration and device applications.…”