Abstract

Point defects govern macroscopic electromagnetic properties in complex oxide such as multiferroic h-LuFeO3. Detecting these defects through HAADF-STEM requires precise structural quantification of the image data. In this thesis, we present a comprehensive investigation of antisite point defect detection in h-LuFeO3, from designing an image analysis workflow to the analytical detection of antisites. We first demonstrate a HAADF image analysis workflow to identify and quantify atomic sites in h-LuFeO3, resolving local signal-to-noise ratio variations and structural complexities caused by ferroelectric atomic displacements. Through this workflow, a comparison of experiments against metrics from frozen-phonon multislice simulations confirms the presence of LueFe and FeLu antisites validated by EELS. We evaluate defect concentrations through comparisons with stoichiometry and thermodynamics and further confirm the detection of LuFe through local lattice relaxation. While precise detection of both LuFe and FeLu antisites remains a challenge for future work, this thesis establishes a framework for the rigorous confirmation and analysis of antisites in h-LuFeO3.

Committee Chair

Rohan Mishra

Committee Members

Sang-Hoon Bae, Francisco Lagunas Vargas

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Author's Department

Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Author's School

McKelvey School of Engineering

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

Spring 5-2026

Language

English (en)

Author's ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2304-4039

Available for download on Saturday, April 22, 2028

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