TY - GEN A1 - Fischer, Simon A1 - Krisponeit, Jon-Olaf A1 - Foerster, Michael A1 - Aballe, Lucia A1 - Falta, Jens A1 - Flege, Jan Ingo T1 - Massively Strained VO2 Thin Film Growth on RuO2 T2 - Crystal Growth & Design N2 - Strain engineering vanadium dioxide thin films is one way to alter this material’s characteristic first order transition from semiconductor to metal. In this study, we extend the exploitable strain regime by utilizing the very large lattice mismatch of 8.78% occurring in the VO2/RuO2 system along the c axis of the rutile structure. We have grown VO2 thin films on single-domain RuO2 islands of two distinct surface orientations by atomic oxygen-supported reactive molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). These films were examined by spatially resolved photoelectron and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, confirming the correct stoichiometry. Low energy electron diffraction then reveals the VO2 films grow indeed fully strained on RuO2(110), exhibiting a previously unreported (2 × 2) reconstruction. On TiO2(110) substrates, we reproduce this reconstruction and attribute it to an oxygen-rich termination caused by the high oxygen chemical potential. On RuO2(100), on the contrary, the films grow fully relaxed. Hence, the presented growth method allows for simultaneous access to a remarkable strain window ranging from bulk-like structures to massively strained regions. KW - strain engineering KW - vanadium dioxide (VO2) KW - ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) KW - reactive molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) KW - low energy electron microscopy (LEEM) KW - photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) KW - low energy electron diffraction (LEED) KW - XPEEM KW - µLEED Y1 - 2020 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-UBICO/frontdoor/index/index/docId/25538 SN - 1528-7483 SN - 1528-7505 VL - 20 IS - 4 SP - 2734 EP - 2741 ER -