MRI: Acquisition of a High Pressure Oxygen Sputtering System for Research and Education in Oxide Heterostructures

技术摘要：明尼苏达大学提议收购一种多用户、高通量、氧化物薄膜沉积系统，以推动氧化物异质结构领域的大规模跨学科研究工作。这项工作跨越了基础和应用研究的许多领域，包括磁学、超导、关联电子、机械行为、固态化学和磁光。该仪器的使用者包括四名主要首席调查人员、总共七名主要调查人员(来自四个部门)、一名外部国家实验室合作者以及15名本科生、研究生和博士后。该仪器采用高压氧溅射，这是一种新近开发的外延多层氧化物薄膜的制备方法，具有对结晶和界面完整性的特殊控制。在获得该系统(这是美国首个此类系统)后，该系统将被用于广泛的合作研究，包括：(I)钙钛矿中的自旋输运和界面磁性；(Ii)用于有机半导体、高温超导体和钙钛矿磁体中静电调谐电荷掺杂的高k电介质；(Iii)集成磁光器件的制造；以及(Iv)氧化物界面的原子分辨率电子显微镜。更广泛的影响是巨大的，包括与这一重要技术领域的进步相关的潜在社会效益，重要基础研究成果的广泛传播，为年轻研究人员提供的跨学科教育机会的增加，这一重要技术领域的熟练劳动力的教育，以及仪器基础设施的根本改进。非技术摘要：氧气是我们日常生活中非常熟悉的元素。也许人们不太熟悉的是简单的金属元素与氧气反应形成的化合物，这种化合物被称为固体氧化物。就其物理和化学性质而言，这些氧化物是当前科学研究中用途最广、最有用和最丰富的材料之一。它们在不同的领域都有应用，从简单的家居用品，如陶瓷，到高科技应用，如计算机处理器、硬盘驱动器和环保燃料电池。大多数要求更苛刻的应用(在计算和信息存储等领域)需要将多种不同的氧化物材料层叠在一起，形成纳米级的相当于层压材料的结构。这种“多层膜”或“异质结构”在基础科学中也非常重要。在这个项目中，明尼苏达大学的科学家将获得一种(美国首个此类仪器)，能够将这些氧化物材料分层在一起，并对其原子结构进行前所未有的控制。然后，材料科学、化学工程、物理、化学和电气工程系的研究人员将在磁学、超导和半导体等领域的各种基础和应用科学研究中使用这些材料。收购这一仪器还将为许多学生和青年科学家提供新的培训和教育机会，对这些重要和竞争激烈的技术领域的熟练劳动力的教育做出重要贡献。

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: The University of Minnesota proposes acquisition of a multi-user, high-throughput, oxide thin film deposition system to fuel a large interdisciplinary research effort in the field of oxide heterostructures. This effort spans numerous areas of basic and applied research including magnetism, superconductivity, correlated electrons, mechanical behavior, solid-state chemistry, and magneto-optics. The users of the instrument include four primary principal investigators, a total of seven principal investigators (from four departments), an external national laboratory collaborator, and ?î 15 undergraduates, graduate students, and post-docs. The proposed instrument employs high pressure oxygen sputtering, a recently developed method for fabrication of epitaxial multilayered oxide films with exceptional control over crystalline and interfacial perfection. Following acquisition of the system (the first of its kind in the US) it will be employed in a wide variety of collaborative research including; (i) spin transport and interface magnetism in perovskites, (ii) high-k dielectrics for electrostatically tuned charge doping in organic semiconductors, high temperature superconductors, and perovskite magnets, (iii) fabrication of integrated magneto-optical devices, and (iv) atomic resolution electron microscopy of oxide interfaces. Broader impacts are considerable and include the potential societal benefits associated with advancement in this technologically important area, broad dissemination of important basic research results, enhancement of the inter-disciplinary educational opportunities provided to young researchers, education of a skilled workforce in this technologically important area, and essential improvements in instrumentation infrastructure.NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: Oxygen is an element that is very familiar to us in our daily lives. Perhaps less familiar are the chemical compounds formed by reacting simple metallic elements with oxygen to form a class of materials called the solid oxides. In terms of their physical and chemical properties, these oxides are some of the most versatile, useful, and rich materials of current scientific interest. They find application in diverse areas, from simple household items such as ceramics, to high-tech applications like computer processors, hard disk drives, and environmentally friendly fuel cells. The majority of the more demanding applications (in areas such as computation and information storage) require that multiple different oxide materials are layered together to form the nanometer-scale equivalent of a laminate. Such ¡§multilayers¡¨ or ¡§heterostructures¡¨ are also very important in basic science. In this project, scientists at the University of Minnesota will acquire an instrument (the first of its kind in the US) capable of layering together these oxide materials with an unprecedented level of control over their atomic structures. Researchers from the Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry and Electrical Engineering departments will then use these materials in a wide variety of basic and applied scientific investigations in fields such as magnetics, superconductivity, and semiconductors. The acquisition of this instrument will also provide new training and education opportunities to many students and young scientists, a vital contribution to the education of a skilled workforce in these important and highly competitive areas of technology.