Epitaxial antiperovskite/perovskite heterostructures for materials design

Abstract: We demonstrate fabrication of atomically sharp interfaces between nitride antiperovskite Mn${3}$GaN and oxide perovskites (La${0.3}$Sr${0.7}$)(Al${0.65}$Ta${0.35}$)O${3}$ (LSAT) and SrTiO$_{3}$ as paradigms of nitride-antiperovskite/oxide-perovskite heterostructures. Using a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), atomic-resolution spectroscopic techniques, and first-principle calculations, we investigated the atomic-scale structure, composition, and boding at the interface. We show that the epitaxial growth between the antiperovskite and perovskite compounds is mediated by a coherent interfacial monolayer that connects the two anti-structures. We anticipate our results to be a major step for the development of functional antiperovskite/perovskite heterostructures opening to harness a combination of their functional properties including topological properties for ultra low power applications.