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Growing additional TiO2 thin films on TiO2 substrates in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV)-compatible chambers have many applications for sample preparation, such as smoothing surface morphologies, templating, and covering impurities. However, there has been little study into how to control the morphology of TiO2 films deposited onto TiO2 substrates, especially using atomic layer deposition (ALD) precursors. Here, the authors show the growth of a TiO2 film on a rutile TiO2(110) surface using titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) and water as the precursors at pressures well below those used in common ALD reactors. X-ray absorption spectroscopy suggests that the relatively low sample temperature (175 °C) results in an anatase film despite the rutile template of the substrate. Using ambient pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the adsorption of TTIP was found to be self-limiting, even at room temperature. No molecular water was found to adsorb on the surface. The deposited thickness suggests that an alternate chemical vapor deposition growth mechanism may be dominating the growth process. This study highlights the possibility that metal oxide film deposition from molecular precursors is an option for sample preparations in common UHV-compatible chambers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2D van der Waals (vdW) magnets are gaining attention in fundamental physics and advanced spintronics, due to their unique dimension-dependent magnetism and potential for ultra-compact integration. However, achieving intrinsic ferromagnetism with high Curie temperature (T C ) remains a technical challenge, including preparation and stability issues. Herein, an applicable electrochemical intercalation strategy to decouple interlayer interaction and guide charge doping in antiferromagnet VOCl, thereby inducing robust room-temperature ferromagnetism, is developed. The expanded vdW gap isolates the neighboring layers and shrinks the distance between the V-V bond, favoring the generation of ferromagnetic (FM) coupling with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Element-specific X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) directly proves the source of the ferromagnetism. Detailed experimental results and density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the charge doping enhances the FM interaction by promoting the orbital hybridization between t 2 g and e g . This work sheds new light on a promising way to achieve room-temperature ferromagnetism in antiferromagnets, thus addressing the critical materials demand for designing spintronic devices., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

A critical factor for electronics based on inorganic layered crystals stems from the electrical contact mode between the semiconducting crystals and the metal counterparts in the electric circuit. Here, a materials tailoring strategy via nanocomposite decoration is carried out to reach metallic contact between MoS 2 matrix and transition metal nanoparticles. Nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) are successfully joined to the sides of a layered MoS 2 crystal through gold nanobuffers, forming semiconducting and magnetic NiNPs@MoS 2 complexes. The intrinsic semiconducting property of MoS 2 remains unchanged, and it can be lowered to only few layers. Chemical bonding of the Ni to the MoS 2 host is verified by synchrotron radiation based photoemission electron microscopy, and further proved by first-principles calculations. Following the system's band alignment, new electron migration channels between metal and the semiconducting side contribute to the metallic contact mechanism, while semiconductor-metal heterojunctions enhance the photocatalytic ability., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)