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DOE OSTI · 3394830

Dynamic asymmetric strain imprinted into substrates by an oxide thin film

Kisiel, Elliot [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000171755820)·Pofelski, Alexandre [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000246539197)·Salev, Pavel [University of Denver, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000211719219)·Qiu, Erbin [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000174469248)·Reisbick, Spencer [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000278824152)·Liu, Chuhang [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000171624708)·Glatz, Andreas [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000220073851)·Poudyal, Ishwor [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)]·He, Wei [Physics Department, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.] (ORCID:0000000270267304)·Basak, Rourav [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000316098316)·Yay, Kaan Alp [Stanford University, CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES)] (ORCID:0000000240786613)·Li, Junjie [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)]·Patel, Umeshkumar [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)]·Zhang, Zhan [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000276186134)·Last, Arndt [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000306589664)·Zhu, Yimei [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000216387217)·Schuller, Ivan K. [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000290787120)·Islam, Zahir [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000274959762)·Frano, Alex [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)] (ORCID:000000019316129X)
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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. Here, using combined x-ray and electron microscopies, we observed that an electrically induced filament in a vanadium dioxide film created strong asymmetric strain in an underlying sapphire substrate. 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 micrometers deep into the substrate, exceeding the film thickness by more than 200-fold, potentially enabling substrate functionalization as an active mechanical coupling media in three-dimensional integrated microelectronic architectures.

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Kisiel, Elliot [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000171755820), Pofelski, Alexandre [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000246539197), Salev, Pavel [University of Denver, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000211719219), Qiu, Erbin [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000174469248), Reisbick, Spencer [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000278824152), Liu, Chuhang [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000171624708), Glatz, Andreas [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000220073851), Poudyal, Ishwor [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)], He, Wei [Physics Department, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.] (ORCID:0000000270267304), Basak, Rourav [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000316098316), Yay, Kaan Alp [Stanford University, CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES)] (ORCID:0000000240786613), Li, Junjie [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)], Patel, Umeshkumar [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)], Zhang, Zhan [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000276186134), Last, Arndt [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000306589664), Zhu, Yimei [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000216387217), Schuller, Ivan K. [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000290787120), Islam, Zahir [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000274959762), Frano, Alex [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)] (ORCID:000000019316129X). 2026-07-23. Dynamic asymmetric strain imprinted into substrates by an oxide thin film. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt9347

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