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Oxide heterostructures exhibit many intriguing properties. Here we provide design principles for inducing multiple topological states in (001) ($AM$O$_3$)$_1$/($AM'$O$_3$)$_1$ oxide superlattices. Aided by first-principles calculations and model analysis, we show that a (Sr$M$O3)$_1$/(Sr$M'$O$_3$)$_1$ superlattice ($M$ = Nb, Ta and $M'$ = Rh, Ir) is a strong topological insulator with $Z_2$ index (1;001). More remarkably, a (SrMoO3)$_1$/(SrIrO3)$_1$ superlattice exhibits multiple coexisting topological insulator (TI) and topological Dirac semi-metal (TDS) states. The TDS state has a pair of type-II Dirac points near the Fermi level and symmetry-protected Dirac node lines. The surface TDS Dirac cone is sandwiched by two surface TI Dirac cones in the energy-momentum space. The non-trivial topological properties arise from the band inversion between $d$ orbitals of two dissimilar transition metal atoms and a particular parity property of (001) superlattice geometry. Our work demonstrates how to induce nontrivial topological states in (001) perovskite oxide heterostructures by rational design., Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures and 1 table

We use first-principles methods to study doped strong ferroelectrics (taking BaTiO$_3$ as a prototype). Here we find a strong coupling between itinerant electrons and soft polar phonons in doped BaTiO$_3$, contrary to Anderson/Blount's weakly coupled electron mechanism for "ferroelectric-like metals". As a consequence, across a polar-to-centrosymmetric phase transition in doped BaTiO$_3$, the total electron-phonon coupling is increased to about 0.6 around the critical concentration, which is sufficient to induce phonon-mediated superconductivity of about 2 K. Lowering the crystal symmetry of doped BaTiO$_3$ by imposing epitaxial strain can further increase the superconducting temperature via a sizable coupling between itinerant electrons and acoustic phonons. Our work demonstrates a viable approach to modulating electron-phonon coupling and inducing phonon-mediated superconductivity in doped strong ferroelectrics and potentially in polar metals. Our results also show that the weakly coupled electron mechanism for "ferroelectric-like metals" is not necessarily present in doped strong ferroelectrics., Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures

Engineering magnetic anisotropy in two-dimensional systems has enormous scientific and technological implications. The uniaxial anisotropy universally exhibited by two-dimensional magnets has only two stable spin directions, demanding 180 degrees spin switching between states. We demonstrate a novel eightfold anisotropy in magnetic SrRuO3 monolayers by inducing a spin reorientation in (SrRuO3)1/(SrTiO3)N superlattices, in which the magnetic easy axis of Ru spins is transformed from uniaxial <001> direction (N = 1 and 2) to eightfold <111> directions (N = 3, 4 and 5). This eightfold anisotropy enables 71 and 109 degrees spin switching in SrRuO3 monolayers, analogous to 71 and 109 degrees polarization switching in ferroelectric BiFeO3. First-principle calculations reveal that increasing the SrTiO3 layer thickness induces an emergent correlation-driven orbital ordering, tuning spin-orbit interactions and reorienting the SrRuO3 monolayer easy axis. Our work demonstrates that correlation effects can be exploited to substantially change spin-orbit interactions, stabilizing unprecedented properties in two-dimensional magnets and opening rich opportunities for low-power, multi-state device applications., Comment: 15+13 pages, 5+10 figures, including supplementary materials