Epitaxial lift-off of La$_{2/3}$Sr$_{1/3}$MnO$_3$ membranes enabled by BaO sacrificial layers and restoration of the Curie temperature

Abstract: Ultrathin complex-oxide membranes provide a powerful platform for strain engineering, interfacial control, and heterogeneous integration; however, their formation remains constrained by the availability and performance of suitable water-soluble sacrificial layers. This letter demonstrates that barium oxide (BaO) serves as a highly efficient and rapidly dissolving water-soluble sacrificial layer, enabling the epitaxial lift-off and transfer of ultrathin La${2/3}$Sr${1/3}$MnO$_3$ (LSMO) membranes onto SiO$_x$/Si substrates. LSMO membranes with a thickness of approximately 8 nm are released using a BaO sacrificial layer grown by molecular beam epitaxy, while high crystallinity is preserved and Ba interdiffusion is limited to a narrow interfacial region of approximately 0.5 nm. Post-transfer oxygen annealing at 600 ${}^\circ$C increases the Curie temperature ($T_C$) from 342 K to 346 K by eliminating Mn$^{2+}$ states associated with oxygen vacancies generated through oxygen extraction into the BaO layer. These results show that BaO provides a fast, scalable, and compositionally simple route for complex-oxide membrane release, while brief oxygen annealing is essential to restore the optimal Mn valence state and achieve the intrinsic high $T_C$.