Fast Atomic Diffusion: Bulk and Short‐Circuit Anion Diffusion in Epitaxial Fe2O3 Films Quantified Using Buried Isotopic Tracer Layers (Adv. Mater. Interfaces 9/2021)

Abstract

Fast atomic diffusion through structural defects in Fe2O3 is directly imaged for the first time at the sub-nanometer level by atom probe tomography. In article number 2001768 by Tiffany C. Kaspar and co-workers, model epitaxial and defect-rich thin films of Fe2O3 are deposited with molecular beam epitaxy, incorporating a tracer layer of 18O within the film itself. Atomic-level self-diffusion is then visualized and quantified in 3D by APT, revealing ≈104 times faster oxygen diffusion along structural flaws than through the pristine lattice.