AURORA – Advancing Understanding of Room-temperature plasticity and Optical Response in Amorphous oxide films

Amorphous oxide thin films are important components in electronic, photonic, optoelectronic, and sensing technologies, but their brittleness can limit their reliability under mechanical stress. Recent discoveries of room-temperature plasticity in amorphous oxides challenge this limitation, revealing the possibility of combining high strength with the ability to accommodate permanent deformation. AURORA investigates the atomic-scale origins of this unusual behaviour in amorphous oxide films of element group 13, and how it connects to their optical properties.

A central challenge is understanding which structural features enable plastic deformation and whether they can be controlled while preserving or enhancing useful optical functionality. Unlike crystalline materials, amorphous oxides lack a regularly repeating atomic structure, making these connections particularly challenging to establish. Addressing this knowledge gap is essential for moving beyond observations of promising behaviour towards the deliberate design of materials with tailored combinations of properties.

AURORA combines thin-film deposition and multimodal characterization, including advanced structural analysis, mechanical testing, and optical measurements, with atomistic computer simulations to uncover the origins of the unique properties of amorphous oxide films. Experiments at leading European synchrotron facilities will reveal how atoms are arranged and connected within these materials. By integrating these structural insights with measured properties and using them to validate the atomistic models, the project will establish experimentally supported structure-property relationships and identify the atomic-scale features that enable plastic deformation alongside useful optical functionality.

The expected outcomes are validated structural models and guiding principles for engineering mechanically resilient, optically functional oxide films. These insights will help identify which compositions and deposition conditions warrant further development, providing a foundation for progressing from fundamental discoveries towards materials optimisation and application-oriented testing. Potential applications include photonic and optoelectronic components, optical sensors, as well as transparent protective coatings, where combining optical performance with the ability to accommodate mechanical stress could improve reliability and extend service life.

Through collaboration across Tampere University, international academic institutions and industry partners in Finland and abroad, AURORA will connect fundamental materials research with the knowledge needed to advance the development of multifunctional oxide films.