Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: New physics emerges from new materials, which in turn rely on the development of new synthesis techniques. Identifying the enlargement of metastable synthesis window as enabling for realizing novel materials, we develop diffusion-activated epitaxy, a technique which combines two metastable synthesis methods of diffusion and epitaxy. We observe that within a narrow window of investigated synthesis space we can experimentally identify the stabilization of four distinct phases, three of which show X-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy characterization data that are incompatible with the crystal structures registered in experimental and computational inorganic structure databases. These results suggest an enlarged metastable synthesis window is enabled by this synthesis approach, identifying doubly metastable synthesis as a promising method for exploration of quantum materials.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Office of Science, Cornell Center for Materials Research, Kavli Institute at Cornell, Cornell University, Office of Naval Research, Division of Materials Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Army Research Office
Awards: G1290886817, MRI: Acquisition of a Cryogenic, Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope for Advanced Materials Research and Education, G2414013413, Joseph Checkelsky Materials Synthesis Investigator, G4303070870, G5518237547, G6266183285, G799213039, MIP: Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, and Discovery of Interface Materials (PARADIM), G8140262571, G836018179
OpenAlex ID: W7221533384