High-Temperature Diffusion Enabled Epitaxy of the Ti-O System.

High temperatures promote kinetic processes that can drive crystal synthesis toward ideal thermodynamic conditions, thereby realizing samples of superior quality. While accessing very high temperatures in thin-film epitaxy is becoming increasingly accessible through laser-based heating methods, demonstrations of such utility are still emerging. The study realizes a novel self-regulated growth mode in the Ti-O system by relying on thermally activated diffusion of oxygen from an oxide substrate.

Monoclinic LaSb Superconducting Thin Films.

Rare-earth diantimondes exhibit coupling between structural and electronic orders, which are tunable under pressure and temperature. Here we present the discovery of a new polymorph of LaSb stabilized in thin films synthesized using molecular beam epitaxy. Using diffraction, electron microscopy, and first-principles calculations we identify a YbSb-type monoclinic lattice as a yet-uncharacterized stacking configuration.