Dynamic asymmetric strain imprinted into substrates by an oxide thin film

In film-substrate systems, the substrate role is often considered to be limited to providing static mechanical constraints. Dynamic film-substrate interactions when a structural change in the film modifies the substrate are generally disregarded. Using combined X-ray and electron microscopies, we observed that the electrically induced filament in a VO 2 film created strong asymmetric strain in the underlying Al 2 O 3 substate. This asymmetric substrate strain fed back into the film and defined the filament expansion direction, revealing the importance of film-substrate dynamic interactions in determining film functionality. Furthermore, the strain imprint propagated at least tens of microns deep into the substrate, exceeding the film thickness more than 200 times, potentially enabling substrate functionalization as an active mechanical coupling media in 3D-integrated microelectronics architectures.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2026-06-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt9347
Primary Topic
Transition Metal Oxide Nanomaterials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Dynamic asymmetric strain imprinted into substrates by an oxide thin film

Rourav Basak, Z. Islam, Elliot Kisiel, Chuhang Liu et al.
Science
Transition Metal Oxide Nanomaterials
article

Dynamic asymmetric strain imprinted into substrates by an oxide thin film

Rourav Basak, Z. Islam, Elliot Kisiel, Chuhang Liu, Alex Frañó, Spencer A. Reisbick, Arndt Last, Erbin Qiu, Junjie Li, Iván K. Schuller, Andreas Glatz, Alexandre Pofelski, Pavel Salev, Ishwor Poudyal, Kaan Yay, Zhan Zhang, Yimei Zhu, Wei He, Umeshkumar Patel
article en

Abstract

In film-substrate systems, the substrate role is often considered to be limited to providing static mechanical constraints. Dynamic film-substrate interactions when a structural change in the film modifies the substrate are generally disregarded. Using combined X-ray and electron microscopies, we observed that the electrically induced filament in a VO 2 film created strong asymmetric strain in the underlying Al 2 O 3 substate. This asymmetric substrate strain fed back into the film and defined the filament expansion direction, revealing the importance of film-substrate dynamic interactions in determining film functionality. Furthermore, the strain imprint propagated at least tens of microns deep into the substrate, exceeding the film thickness more than 200 times, potentially enabling substrate functionalization as an active mechanical coupling media in 3D-integrated microelectronics architectures.

Science
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE), Northern Illinois University (US), Argonne National Laboratory (US), University of Denver (US), Brookhaven National Laboratory (US), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (US), University of California San Diego (US), Stanford University (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 14%
Transition Metal Oxide Nanomaterials
DOISourceOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.