Molecular beam epitaxy of antiperovskite oxides

Abstract

Antiperovskites, or inverse perovskites, have recently emerged as a material class with a plethora of promising electronic properties. This Perspective describes the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth of oxide antiperovskites Sr3PbO and Sr3SnO. We show that MBE offers great potential in regard to not only growing antiperovskites with high structural quality but also providing a means for seamless integration with advanced characterization techniques, including x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, reflection high-energy electron diffraction, and scanning tunneling microscopy, to facilitate the analyses of their intrinsic properties. The initial results point toward the feasibility of atomically controlled antiperovskite growth, which can open doors to study topological and correlated electronic states in an electronic environment quite distinct from what is available in conventional complex oxides.