Refined Epitaxial Growth of YbRh <sub>2</sub> Si <sub>2</sub> Thin Films

Abstract Epitaxial thin films of the heavy fermion compound YbRh 2 Si 2 have opened new possibilities in the investigation of the enigmatic strange metal state, including terahertz transmission spectroscopy and shot noise. For experiments at lower temperatures and energies, further advances in film quality are desirable. In this work, The focus is on the enhancement of crystallinity and surface smoothness of YbRh 2 Si 2 thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy using Knudsen cells and electron‐beam evaporation sources. The morphology is influenced by the Yb flux and provides insight into the crystal quality of the thin films confirmed by in‐plane and out‐of‐plane diffraction techniques. Changes in the surface morphology affect the physical characteristics of the film. A nucleation study is performed with the assistance of ab initio calculations of the binding energy of each element, i.e., Yb, Rh, and Si, with the substrate and permits to further reduce the surface roughness of the films and refinement of crystal quality, as evidenced by sharper peaks in X‐ray diffraction scans. The residual resistance ratio depends linearly on the lattice mismatch. At low temperatures, the electrical resistivity of the best epitaxial thin films exhibits a linear‐in‐temperature dependence characteristic of strange metals.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Materials Interfaces
Published
2025-10-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202500482
Primary Topic
Rare-earth and actinide compounds
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Refined Epitaxial Growth of YbRh 2 Si 2 Thin Films

Annette Foelske, Eva Kolíbalová, Ondřej Man, Robert Svagera et al.
Advanced Materials Interfaces
Rare-earth and actinide compounds
article

Refined Epitaxial Growth of YbRh 2 Si 2 Thin Films

Annette Foelske, Eva Kolíbalová, Ondřej Man, Robert Svagera, Silke Buehler Paschen, W. Schrenk, Miriam Giparakis, G. Strasser, Seid Hadi Rasouli, Hermann Detz, A. Prokofiev, Dung Van Nguyen, Stefania Isceri, Valeria Butera, Emine Bakali, Daniele Nazzari, Monika Waas, M. Hanke, A. M. Andrews, Francesco Laudani, Lukas Fischer
article en

Abstract

Abstract Epitaxial thin films of the heavy fermion compound YbRh 2 Si 2 have opened new possibilities in the investigation of the enigmatic strange metal state, including terahertz transmission spectroscopy and shot noise. For experiments at lower temperatures and energies, further advances in film quality are desirable. In this work, The focus is on the enhancement of crystallinity and surface smoothness of YbRh 2 Si 2 thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy using Knudsen cells and electron‐beam evaporation sources. The morphology is influenced by the Yb flux and provides insight into the crystal quality of the thin films confirmed by in‐plane and out‐of‐plane diffraction techniques. Changes in the surface morphology affect the physical characteristics of the film. A nucleation study is performed with the assistance of ab initio calculations of the binding energy of each element, i.e., Yb, Rh, and Si, with the substrate and permits to further reduce the surface roughness of the films and refinement of crystal quality, as evidenced by sharper peaks in X‐ray diffraction scans. The residual resistance ratio depends linearly on the lattice mismatch. At low temperatures, the electrical resistivity of the best epitaxial thin films exhibits a linear‐in‐temperature dependence characteristic of strange metals.

Advanced Materials InterfacesVol. 12(21)
University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien (AT), Central European Institute of Technology (CZ), TU Wien (AT), Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (DE), Forschungsverbund Berlin (DE), University of Palermo (IT)
Technische Universitat Wien, European Commission, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy, Austrian Science Fund, Technische Universität Wien, Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft, Technische Universität Wien Bibliothek, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, European Office of Aerospace Research and Development
Openalex Percentile: Top 83%
Rare-earth and actinide compounds
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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