In our new research article published in ACS Nano, LSME scientists use detailed, quantitative scanning transmission electron microscopy analyses to identify and characterize a new type of structural interface created in epitaxially strained orthorhombic perovksite thin films. This study, which comes from a multi-year collaboration with functional oxide growth experts at the University of Geneva, further exploits novel second-principles atomistic simulations performed by the team of Philippe Ghosez at the University of Liège, in order to rationalize the nanoscale structural-energetics that drive the interface formation. At the interface, which has the thickness of a single atomic plane, the defining symmetry of the orthorhombic compound is broken, creating an atomic structure that offers the potential for creating new functional properties.
