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© H. Jonathan Mannhart



The Thermodynamic Tango

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(piloted by H. Jonathan Mannhart)
Colorful, abstract patterns with circular and line elements on a surface. Sapphire amoeba: Optical image of a recrystallized sapphire surface. Using a CO2 heating laser, substrates for thin-film growth can be heated to very high temperatures. The laser can easily melt sapphire (Al2O3), which happens at a temperature of 2040 °C. After sustaining a small ‘melt pool’ on the sample surface for about 15 minutes, the laser was switched off abruptly. This rapidly freezes the molten surface, yielding a variety of objects in many shapes and sizes. In this particular image, spherical drops surround a mesa-type structure, reminiscent of a single-cell biological organism on the verge of dividing, given the two cores. The shapes and sizes of such structures are dictated by the balance of surface energies in a solid-state crystal.
Abstract spiral patterns on a dark background. Sapphire Hanoi towers: Optical image of a recrystallized sapphire surface. Using a CO2 heating laser, substrates for thin-film growth can be heated to very high temperatures. The laser can easily melt sapphire (Al2O3), which happens at a temperature of 2040 °C. After sustaining a small ‘melt pool’ on the sample surface for about 15 minutes, the laser was switched off abruptly. This rapidly freezes the molten surface, yielding a variety of objects in many shapes and sizes. In this particular image, stacks of disks have emerged, reminiscent of the disk-stacking puzzle of the ‘Hanoi towers’ (inset). The shapes and sizes of such structures are dictated by the balance of surface energies in a solid-state crystal.
Circular metallic patterns with lines on a dark surface, resembling abstract art. Sapphire rice fields: Optical image of a recrystallized sapphire surface. Using a CO2 heating laser, substrates for thin-film growth can be heated to very high temperatures. The laser can easily melt sapphire (Al2O3), which happens at a temperature of 2040 °C. After sustaining a small ‘melt pool’ on the sample surface for about 15 minutes, the laser was switched off abruptly. This rapidly freezes the molten surface, yielding a variety of objects in many shapes and sizes. In this particular image, spherical drops are spread out on a landscape of flat terraces with curvy edges. One can imagine these as microscopic versions of the rice-growing fields, commonly observed in the hills of Southeast Asia. The shapes and sizes of such structures are dictated by the balance of surface energies in a solid-state crystal.

Gallery

 

Conceptual image showing blue, wave-like structures passing through a golden loop, set against a dark background, suggesting motion or energy. Illustration of an electron wave that has left a contact and now passes a quantum ring.
Electron microscope image showing α-LaAlO3 substrate, 2DES region, and gate structure with labels, featuring a scale bar of 1 µm. False-colored SEM image of an oxide field-effect transistor with a gate-length of ~ 70 nm (sample by Carsten Woltmann, PhD thesis).

Close-up of an oxide chip featuring four colorful quadrants and intricate circuitry patterns. Photograph of an oxide chip containing several hundred thousand LaAlO3 - SrTiO3 field effect transistors. The colors are caused by light interfering with the transistor arrays (Carsten Woltmann).
View on a complex metallic apparatus with bolts and components. View into our pulsed-laser deposition system (target manipulator).
A gemstone shown from above, featuring various triangular facets in dark and light shades, surrounding a bright circular center. The image includes a scale indicating 500 micrometers. Top-view of a diamond used in a diamond anvil-cell with back irradiation (Jone Zabaleta).
View of a thin-film sample mounted on a diamond in a diamond-anvil cell (Jone Zabaleta).

Geometric pattern with white, orange, and blue rectangles on black background. Optical microscope image of oxide field-effect transistors (LaAlO3-SrTiO3) made by Lukas Kürten.
Glowing experimental setup with metallic components. Photograph of a hot tungsten filament designed for a thermoelectronic generator (Alex Kyriazis).
A detailed view of a glowing experimental setup, featuring metal components, various wires, and a scale marker indicating 2cm for reference. Photograph of a thermoelectronic energy converter in action.
Advanced scientific machinery with numerous metallic parts, including a circular window displaying intricate internal structures, set in a laboratory environment. Thermolelectronic generator built to analyze in-situ and under operating conditions the work functions of quantum material heterostructures grown in our pulsed laser deposition system.
Blue light beam within a metallic chamber, surrounded by warm orange hues. Photograph of the laser ablation process in the PLD chamber. The invisible, ultraviolet beam of an excimer laser hits a SrTiO3 target so that it shines as a blue disk (middle, top), creating a plasma plume (blue) which extends towards the substrate, a crystal of SrTiO3 (white rectangle in the middle, bottom). A second invisible infrared laser beam heats the substrate to 1200°C, so that it glows white.
Layered patterns in orange tones. AFM micrograph of a NdGaO3 surface after heating to 1050 °C in 7.5 Pa of oxygen.
Diagram of ion and electron pulses through liquids and solids. Sketch of envisioned solid-state/liquid-state heterostructures. This cross section illustrates the freedom of design and advances achievable if microscopic volumes of liquids (colored) were integrated into heterostructures. In the liquid volumes, for example, ions may create electric double layers (center) or move across gaps (sketch at right).
Colorful sample with geometric patterns, lines, and dots on a dark background. Sketch illustrating the vision of a sample containing integrated, microscopic liquid volumes, as opposed to Fig 2. Different liquids patterned into distinct shapes may be placed onto the sample at well-determined locations and then overgrown by subsequent layers.
Transparent blue droplet on a sample, gold connectors extend from its edges. Illustration of a typical state-of-the-art sample setup used for ionic gating. A macroscopic drop of an electrolyte (blue) dropped onto the sample provides the gate liquid.
Capacitor image -featuring intricate white circuit pathways on a dark blue surface, with green arrows marking specific nodes, bordered by small yellow squares. Optical microscopy image of a capacitor with integrated NaCl-H2O dielectric of ≈20 μm diameter (green arrow).
Photograph of a sample with 16 integrated capacitors after deposition of NaCl, before H2O deposition. The green arrows point to three of the capacitors (small bright dots).
Two images. Top: Optical microscopy images of a ZnO-field-effect transistors with integrated NaCl-H2O dielectrics (arrow). These transistors have channel lenghts l≈10–20 μm. Bottom: Optical microscopy images of a chip containing 16 FETs.
Central hexagon with vivid, swirling colors, bordered by cracked textures and scattered diamond-like forms on a dark surface. Optical micrograph of a test sample used for the development of integrated liquid solid heterostructures. Advanced Materials 30, 1802598 (2018)
Z-contrast STEM image of a cross-sectional cut through a single dot close to its center. HAADF STEM image of a SrRuO3 quantum dot with the size of 30 nm grown on (100) SrTiO3.
AFM micrograph of epitaxially-grown SrRuO3 nanodot arrays on SrTiO3. Atomic terraces of the substrate are visible. The width of the terrace is ≈ 250 nm.
Detailed view of a sample displaying complex circuit patterns in blue and orange hues. Optical micrograph of a 5x5mm LaAlO3-SrTiO3 sample containing nine devices which consist of FETs combined with Hall bars. Each device comprises a conducting channel of crystalline LaAlO3. The channel is well visible as a translucent area offset from the rest of the sample surface, which is covered with amorphous LaAlO3. The source and drain contacts and the voltage probes of the devices are provided by titanium films. The top-gates consist of PLD-grown gold. The diffuse, grainy background is due to the unpolished bottom face of the SrTiO3 substrate. Sample fabrication and micrograph: Lukas Kuerten.
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