In-situ Tunable Biaxial Strain of Freestanding Membranes

Recent developments of freestanding oxide membranes have enabled strain engineering of transition metal oxides beyond the regimes accessible in bulk samples. In this work, we present technical development of a strain probe designed to use a flexible polyimide substrate to transfer stress to transition metal oxide films. Independent control of both in-plane strain axes is precisely tuned via an optical readout enabling in-situ biaxial tensile strain. We optimize magnetotransport and mutual inductance measurements from room temperature to 2 K with fields up to 12 T. Preliminary measurements of an oxide membrane are presented to demonstrate the unique capabilities of the instrument to induce and map emergent phenomena.