Oxygen Deficiency Modulated La-Doped BaSnO3 Films Showing Improved Light Transmittance

TL;DR

This study shows how oxygen deficiency affects the structure and light transmittance of La-doped BaSnO3 films, offering insights for better material design.

Contribution

The paper reveals how oxygen deficiency modulates RP fault density and electronic structure to improve transmittance in LBSO films.

Findings

High oxygen partial pressure reduces RP fault density and improves visible light transmittance in LBSO films.

Oxygen deficiency alters the electronic structure at RP faults, affecting material properties.

Annealing under low oxygen pressure causes larger changes in electronic structure compared to low oxygen deficiency.

Abstract

As one of the representative transparent conducting oxides, perovskite-typed La-doped BaSnO3 (LBSO) films could be integrated with other perovskite materials to create all-perovskite oxide devices exhibiting exotic physical properties. To overcome the intricate trade-off between conductivity and transmittance in LBSO-based devices, understanding the structural modulating mechanisms of transmittance is definitely crucial. In this paper, the influences of the prevailing Ruddlesden–Popper faults (RP faults) on the transmittance of LBSO films were systematically illuminated, whose density were regulated by the oxygen partial pressures during film growth. High-angle annular dark field (HAADF) STEM and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed to characterize the microstructures of the films growing under various oxygen partial pressures and annealing under different oxygen partial pressures. A decrease in RP fault density was observed in the films grown and annealed at high oxygen partial pressures, which displayed improved visible light transmittance. Atomic-scale energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) analyses revealed the different electronic structure at RP faults compared with the bulk material, including the double concentration of La and increased M5/M4 white line ratio, which is modulative by the oxygen deficiency in LBSO film. It is revealed that the RP defaults in LBSO films annealed at low oxygen pressures displayed larger changes in electronic structure compared with the counterparts with low oxygen deficiency. This work suggests that the oxygen deficiency in LSBO films plays a crucial role in changing the density of RP faults and their electronic structures, thereby regulating the transmittance of LBSO films, which would provide guidance for fabricating high-performance LBSO films.

Figures