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A novel artificially created MnO2 monolayer system is demonstrated in atomically controlled epitaxial perovskite heterostructures. With careful design of different electrostatic boundary conditions, a magnetic transition as well as a metal-insulator transition of the MnO2 monolayer is unveiled, providing a fundamental understanding of dimensionality-confined strongly correlated electron systems and a direction to design new electronic devices.

Nanoelectronic devices based on ferroelectric domain walls (DWs), such as memories, transistors, and rectifiers, have been demonstrated in recent years. Practical high-speed electronics, on the other hand, usually demand operation frequencies in the gigahertz (GHz) regime, where the effect of dipolar oscillation is important. Herein, an unexpected giant GHz conductivity on the order of 103 S m-1 is observed in certain BiFeO3 DWs, which is about 100 000 times greater than the carrier-induced direct current (dc) conductivity of the same walls. Surprisingly, the nominal configuration of the DWs precludes the alternating current (ac) conduction under an excitation electric field perpendicular to the surface. Theoretical analysis shows that the inclined DWs are stressed asymmetrically near the film surface, whereas the vertical walls in a control sample are not. The resultant imbalanced polarization profile can then couple to the out-of-plane microwave fields and induce power dissipation, which is confirmed by the phase-field modeling. Since the contributions from mobile-carrier conduction and bound-charge oscillation to the ac conductivity are equivalent in a microwave circuit, the research on local structural dynamics may open a new avenue to implement DW nano-devices for radio-frequency applications.

Ionic-liquid-gating- (ILG-) induced proton evolution has emerged as a novel strategy to realize electron doping and manipulate the electronic and magnetic ground states in complex oxides. While the study of a wide range of systems (e.g., SrCoO2.5 , VO2 , WO3 , etc.) has demonstrated important opportunities to incorporate protons through ILG, protonation remains a big challenge for many others. Furthermore, the mechanism of proton intercalation from the ionic liquid/solid interface to whole film has not yet been revealed. Here, with a model system of inverse spinel NiCo2 O4 , an increase in system temperature during ILG forms a single but effective method to efficiently achieve protonation. Moreover, the ILG induces a novel phase transformation in NiCo2 O4 from ferrimagnetic metallic into antiferromagnetic insulating with protonation at elevated temperatures. This study shows that environmental temperature is an efficient tuning knob to manipulate ILG-induced ionic evolution.

A new way to induce a large magnetoresistance has been achieved by self-assembled nanostructures consisting of ferromagnetic spinel CoFe₂O₄ (CFO) and metallic perovskite SrRuO₃ (SRO). The interdiffused Fe³⁺ ions in SRO have paved the way to strong magnetic couplings with CFO nanopillars, resulting in the suppression of spin-polarized electron scattering.

Modulation of band bending at a complex oxide heterointerface by a ferroelectric layer is demonstrated. The as-grown polarization (Pup ) leads to charge depletion and consequently low conduction. Switching the polarization direction (Pdown ) results in charge accumulation and enhances the conduction at the interface. The metal-insulator transition at a conducting polar/nonpolar oxide heterointerface can be controlled by ferroelectric doping.

Recent advances in thin-fi lm engineering leads to a new type of mixed-phase system in BiFeO 3 (BFO) epitaxial fi lms driven by substrate strain. [ 1 ] Single-phase multiferroic BFO had attracted great interests due to its robust ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic orderings at room temperatures. [ 2–11 ] Under a strong compressive strain ( > 4%), the stable crystal structure of BFO transformed from the rhombohedral-like monoclinics (R) to tetragonal-like monoclinics (T), [ 12 , 13 ] and with suitable strain relaxation through thickness, the coexistence of R-BFO and T-BFO phases can be obtained in the same fi lm. [ 1 , 14–18 ]

Direct atomic displacement mapping at ferroelectric interfaces by aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy(STEM) (a-STEM image, b-corresponding displacement profile) is combined with Landau-Ginsburg-Devonshire theory to obtain the complete interface electrostatics in real space, including separate estimates for the polarization and intrinsic interface charge contributions.

Electric field control of magnetism ultimately opens up the possibility of reducing energy consumption of memory and logic devices. Electric control of magnetization and exchange bias are demonstrated in all-oxide heterostructures of BiFeO3 (BFO) and La0.7 Sr0.3 MnO3 (LSMO). However, the role of the polar heterointerface on magnetoelectric (ME) coupling is not fully explored. Here, the ME coupling in BFO/LSMO heterostructures with two types of interfaces, achieved by exploiting the interface engineering at the atomic scale, is investigated. It is shown that both magnetization and exchange bias are reversibly controlled by switching the ferroelectric polarization of BFO. Intriguingly, distinctly different modulation behaviors that depend on the interfacial atomic sequence are observed. These results provide new insights into the underlying physics of ME coupling in the model system. This study highlights that designing interface at the atomic scale is of general importance for functional spintronic devices.

Transforming thermal energy into electric energy and vice versa needs the decoupling of electrical transport from thermal transport. An innovative strategy is proposed by forming/disrupting electrically triggered conductive nanofilaments within semiconducting thin films to switch thermoelectric properties between two states without further material modification and manufacturing processes. It can also controllably adjust the degree of decoupling, providing a potential resolution and performance adjustability for heat/coldness control or power consumption reduction on demand.

Control over ferroelectric polarization variants in BiFeO3 films through the use of various vicinal SrTiO3 substrates is demonstrated. The ferroelectric polarization variants in these films are characterized by piezoelectric force microscopy and the corresponding structural variants are carefully analyzed and confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Implementation of this approach has given us the ability to create single domain BiFeO3 films on (001), (110), and (111) surfaces. The piezo/ ferroelectric properties of the BiFeO3 films, in turn, can be tailored through this approach. Such results are very promising for continued exploration of BiFeO3 films and provide a template for detailed multiferroic-coupling studies in the magnetoelectric BiFeO3 system. Magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroic materials has attracted much attention because of the intriguing science underpinning this phenomenon. Additionally, there is an exciting potential for applications and devices that take advantage of these materials with multiple order parameters. BiFeO3 (BFO) is a room temperature, single-phase magnetoelectric multiferroic with a ferroelectric Curie temperature of ∼ 1103 K and an antiferromagnetic Neel temperature of ∼ 643 K. Recent studies of BFO thin films have shown the existence of a large ferroelectric polarization, as well as a small net magnetization of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya type resulting from a canting of the antiferromagnetic sublattice. The ferroelectric polarization in BFO can have orientations along the four cube diagonals ( ), and the direction of the polarization can be changed by ferroelectric and ferroelastic switching. Our previous studies have shown coupling between ferroelectricity and antiferromagnetism in BFO thin films resulting from the coupling of both antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric domains to the underlying ferroelastic domain switching events. Such a study was a crucial first step in the exploration of approaches to control and manipulate magnetic properties using an electric field. It was also noted, however, that these films exhibit a very complicated domain structure, which complicates the interpretation of the fundamental properties of this system as well as the interactions across hetero-interfaces. The lack of large single crystals of the desired crystallographic orientation provokes another motivation to explore approaches to create “single crystalline” epitaxial films that are free of ferroelectric/ferroelastic domains. Recent studies have explored the ability to control the ferroelectric domain configuration, which is formed after the phase transformation, through substrate engineering. In this study, we demonstrate an approach to control the ferroelectric domain structure in BFO films through the use of vicinal SrTiO3 (STO) substrates. This has enabled us to create thin films that “mimic” the primary crystal facets of the pseudo-cubic unit cell, namely single domain (100), (110), and (111) surfaces. The ferroelectric domain structure of an epitaxial BFO film on STO substrates with different orientations can be modeled using the phase-field method in which the spatial distribution of the polarization field and its evolution is described by the time dependent Ginzburg–Landau (TDGL) equations. For a BFO film grown on a (001)-oriented perovskite substrate, there are eight possible ferroelectric polarization directions corresponding to the four structural variants of the rhombohedral phase (Fig. 1a). In this case, the individual domains are energetically degenerate, and domain structures with twinning are expected in order to relax the elastic energy of the film. Experimentally, however, only the downward directed polarization variants are observed, indicating the existence of a self-poling effect (as a consequence of the bottom electrode). Figure 1b shows an in-plane (IP) piezoforce microscopy (PFM) image of a BFO film grown on (001) STO substrate. The three contrast levels observed in the IP-PFM images acquired along the two orthogonal directions, together with the uniform out-of-plane (OP) PFM contrast (not shown), indicate that the domain structure of the BFO films is characterized by four polarization variants. The C O M M U N IC A TI O N

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite materials exhibit a variety of physical properties. Pronounced coupling between phonon, organic cations, and the inorganic framework suggest that these materials exhibit strong light–matter interactions. The photoinduced strain of CH3NH3PbBr3 is investigated using high-resolution and contactless in situ Raman spectroscopy. Under illumination, the material exhibits large blue shifts in its Raman spectra that indicate significant structural deformations (i.e., photostriction). From these shifts, the photostrictive coefficient of CH3NH3PbBr3 is calculated as 2.08 × 10−8 m2 W−1 at room temperature under visible light illumination. The significant photostriction of CH3NH3PbBr3 is attributed to a combination of the photovoltaic effect and translational symmetry loss of the molecular configuration via strong translation–rotation coupling. Unlike CH3NH3PbI3, it is noted that the photostriction of CH3NH3PbBr3 is extremely stable, demonstrating no signs of optical decay for at least 30 d. These results suggest the potential of CH3NH3PbBr3 for applications in next-generation optical micro-electromechanical devices.