Heteroepitaxial tuning of resonant forbidden reflections in a spinel†

In resonant elastic X-ray scattering (REXS), low site symmetries in a crystal may be revealed through resonant Bragg reflections that are normally forbidden in conventional X-ray diffraction due to screw axes and/or glide planes. These resonant forbidden reflections have been observed in spinel compounds, but to better understand and utilize their connection to microscopic material parameters and possible charge and/or orbital ordering, a systematic study of their dependence on growth conditions and applied strain is desired. We performed REXS at the V K edge and examined the resonant forbidden (002) reflection in thin films of the spinel LiV₂O₄ grown on three substrates: MgAl₂O₄, SrTiO₃, and MgO. The energy dependence of the (002) reflection shows a systematic evolution as epitaxial strain modifies the local anisotropy of the V site. More strikingly, the integrated intensity of the (002) reflection varies by more than an order of magnitude in films on different substrates. We speculate that the large variation in integrated intensity reflects the varying degree of antiphase domains that arise during the epitaxy.