Synthesis of freestanding perovskite oxide thin films by using brownmillerite SrCoO2.5 as a sacrificial layer

Abstract

Freestanding perovskite thin films display many unprecedented properties and exhibit the potential to be easily integrated on other non-oxide substrates or layers. In this work, we demonstrated a pathway to synthesis freestanding perovskite oxide thin films by using brownmillerite SrCoO2.5 as a sacrificial layer. Four representative freestanding perovskite oxide films, e.g., ferromagnetic SrRuO3, La0.7Sr0.3MnO3, dielectric SrTiO3, and ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3, were produced by etching SrCoO2.5 in Fe(NO3)3 weak acidic solution at room temperature. A 80 nm SrRuO3, which served as an H+ conduction channel, was deposited as a bottom layer of SrCoO2.5 to trigger a quick dissolution for the exfoliation of SrTiO3 and Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 poor H+ conductor. Their crystal structure and physical properties were well retained in transferred films. Our work demonstrated the wide applicability of SrCoO2.5 as a sacrificial layer on the synthesis of freestanding perovskite oxide thin films.