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Extraordinary magnetoresistance (EMR) is a geometric magnetoresistance effect occurring in hybrid devices consisting of a high-mobility material interfaced with a high-conductivity material. The change in resistance can exceed 107% at room temperature when a strong magnetic field is applied. Magnetic field sensors based on EMR hold the potential for measuring weak magnetic fields with an unprecedented sensitivity, yet, to date this potential is largely unmet. In this work, we provide an extensive review of the current state-of-the-art in EMR devices with a focus on the geometry of the hybrid devices, the constituent material properties, and applications of EMR. We present a direct comparison of the best devices in literature across magnetoresistance, sensitivity and noise equivalent field for different materials and geometric designs. The compilation of studies collected in this review illustrates the extremely rich possibilities for tuning the magnetoresistive behaviour by varying the device geometry and material properties. In addition, we aim to improve the understanding of the effect and the interplay between the geometry and material properties. Finally, we discuss recent trends in the field and future perspectives for EMR.

Over the past several decades, major efforts have been directed toward the optimization of carrier concentrations to maximize thermoelectric performance. Chemical doping is an effective way to control carriers, but electrostatic gating provides a continuous tuning knob that enables effective and dynamic changes to the carrier density. Here, a method is reported that uses an electric-double-layer (EDL) transistor-based ionic liquids gating to adjust the thermoelectric properties of thin films made from Nb-doped SrTiO3 (Nb-STO). This technique allows us to effectively change these properties at room temperature by varying the concentration of charge carriers within a broad range. A combination of lower film thickness and intrinsic carrier concentration leads to an enhanced ionic liquid-gated response, resulting in an 18-fold enhancement in power factor at room temperature for a 14 nm thin 4% Nb-STO film at gate voltages within ±3.0 V. The present study offers new insights and strategies toward enhanced gate tunable thermoelectric properties in thin films.

Ionic conductivity is pivotal for solid-state battery performance. While the garnet oxide electrolyte Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) boasts high ionic conductivity due to its distinct crystal structure and lithium-ion mobility, lithium loss during fabrication hampers its potential. In this study, we introduce a method that merges synthesis optimization with a post-lithiation process, enhancing LLZO's ionic conductivity. This approach compensates lithium loss with a gas-phase diffusion process, which stabilizes the cubic LLZO phase and amplifies its ionic conductivity by more than three orders of magnitude compared to electrolytes without post-lithiation. Through our comprehensive experimental procedure, we have conclusively determined that the film deposited at 700 °C and subsequently annealed at 700 °C with LiOH exhibits the highest conductivity, with a notable value of 1.11 × 10−2 S cm−1 at 200 °C. This is a significant boost compared to the as-deposited film (3.54 × 10−6 S cm−1 at 200 °C). Our findings present an additional approach to boosting lithium ion diffusion. The approach employed in this work has the potential to be applicable to films produced through other deposition methods, as it addresses the prevalent issue of lithium loss, a significant barrier to the utilization of lithium-rich thin films.

Magnetometers with a high sensitivity at weak magnetic fields are desirable for a wide range of sensing applications. Devices that operate on the principle of extraordinary magnetoresistance (EMR) are appealing candidates because of their simplicity and ability to operate at room temperature but they suffer from low sensitivity when compared to state-of-the-art magnetometers such as superconducting quantum interference devices. Since the EMR phenomenon is principally a geometric effect, the shapes of the various parts of the device represent additional degrees-of-freedom which can be manipulated in order to modify the performance of the devices. While previous studies have mostly focused on the inner part of the sensor, in this work, we study the effect of systematically manipulating the shape of the outer boundary. We show that the maximum sensitivity of the device can be increased by 70% by placing a constriction between the voltage or current probes and by 300% if the shape of the boundary is shifted from circular to elliptical. We also show that a finite zero-field sensitivity can be obtained if the horizontal symmetry of the device is broken. These results demonstrate that the outer boundary can have a significant effect on device performance, a finding which paves the way for using shape optimization on the outer boundary for designing sensitive magnetometers.

Internet-of-thing (IoT) is an assembly of devices that collect and share data with other devices and communicate via the internet. This massive network of devices, generates and communicates data and is the key to the value in IoT, allowing access to raw information, gaining insight, and making an intelligent decisions. Today, there are billions of IoT devices such as sensors and actuators deployed. Many of these applications are easy to connect, but those tucked away in hard-to-access spots will need to harvest ambient energy. Therefore, the aim is to create devices that are self-report in real-time. Efforts are underway to install a self-powered unit in IoT devices that can generate sufficient power from environmental conditions such as light, vibration, and heat. In this review paper, we discuss the recent progress made in materials and device development in power- and, storage units, and power management relevant for IoT applications. This review paper will give a comprehensive overview for new researchers entering the field of IoT and a collection of challenges as well as perspectives for people already working in this field.

The electronic structure as well as the mechanism underlying the high-mobility two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) at complex oxide interfaces remain elusive. Herein, using soft X-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we present the band dispersion of metallic states at buffered LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) heterointerfaces where a single-unit-cell LaMnO3 (LMO) spacer not only enhances the electron mobility but also renders the electronic structure robust toward X-ray radiation. By tracing the evolution of band dispersion, orbital occupation, and electron-phonon interaction of the interfacial 2DEG, we find unambiguous evidence that the insertion of the LMO buffer strongly suppresses both the formation of oxygen vacancies as well as the electron-phonon interaction on the STO side. The latter effect makes the buffered sample different from any other STO-based interfaces and may explain the maximum mobility enhancement achieved at buffered oxide interfaces.

The exploration for thermoelectric thin films of complex oxides such as SrTiO3-based oxides is driven by the need for miniaturized harvesting devices for powering the Internet of Things (IoT). However, there is still not a clear consensus in the literature for the underlying influence of film thickness on thermoelectric properties. Here, we report the fabrication of epitaxial thin films of 6% Nb-doped SrTiO3 on (001) (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.7 (LSAT) single crystal using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) where the film thickness was varied from 2 nm to 68 nm. The thickness dependence shows a subtle increase of tetragonality of the thin film lattice and a gradual drop of the electrical conductivity, the density of charge carriers, and the thermoelectric Seebeck coefficient as the film thickness decreases. DFT-based calculations show that ∼2.8% increase in tetragonality results in an increased splitting between t2g and eg orbitals to ∼42.3 meV. However, experimentally observed tetragonality for films between 68 to 13 nm is only 0.06%. Hence, the effect of thickness on tetragonality is neglected. We have discussed the decrease of conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient based on the decrease of carriers and change in the scattering mechanism, respectively.

The rich functionalities of transition-metal oxides and their interfaces bear an enormous technological potential. Its realization in practical devices requires, however, a significant improvement of yet relatively low electron mobility in oxide materials. Recently, a mobility boost of about 2 orders of magnitude has been demonstrated at the spinel-perovskite γ-Al2O3/SrTiO3 interface compared to the paradigm perovskite-perovskite LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. We explore the fundamental physics behind this phenomenon from direct measurements of the momentum-resolved electronic structure of this interface using resonant soft-X-ray angle-resolved photoemission. We find an anomaly in orbital ordering of the mobile electrons in γ-Al2O3/SrTiO3 which depopulates electron states in the top SrTiO3 layer. This rearrangement of the mobile electron system pushes the electron density away from the interface, which reduces its overlap with the interfacial defects and weakens the electron-phonon interaction, both effects contributing to the mobility boost. A crystal-field analysis shows that the band order alters owing to the symmetry breaking between the spinel γ-Al2O3 and perovskite SrTiO3. Band-order engineering, exploiting the fundamental symmetry properties, emerges as another route to boost the performance of oxide devices.

© 2017 Author(s). Metallic LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) interfaces attract enormous attention, but the relationship between the electron mobility and the sheet electron density, ns, is poorly understood. Here, we derive a simple expression for the three-dimensional electron density near the interface, n3D, as a function of ns and find that the mobility for LAO/STO-based interfaces depends on n3D in the same way as it does for bulk doped STO. It is known that undoped bulk STO is strongly compensated with N5×1018 cm-3 background donors and acceptors. In intentionally doped bulk STO with a concentration of electrons n3DN, the mobility collapses because scattering happens on n3D intentionally introduced donors. For LAO/STO, the polar catastrophe which provides electrons is not supposed to provide an equal number of random donors and thus the mobility should be larger. The fact that the mobility is still the same implies that for the LAO/STO, the polar catastrophe model should be revisited.

In the search for an oxide-based 2D electron system with a large concentration of highly mobile electrons, a promising strategy is to introduce electrons through donor doping while spatially separating electrons and donors to prevent scattering. In SrTiO3, this can be achieved by tailoring the oxygen vacancy profile through reduction, e.g., by creating an interface with an oxygen scavenging layer. Through reduction, oxygen atoms are removed close to the interface, leaving behind oxygen vacancies in the SrTiO3 lattice and mobile electrons in the SrTiO3 conduction band. The commonly assumed picture is that the oxygen vacancies then remain confined close to the interface while the electrons leak a few nanometers into the bulk, resulting in an electron-defect separation and a highly mobile, oxide-based 2D electron system. So far it has remained unclear how the confinement and electron-defect separation develop over time. Here, we present transient finite element simulations that consider three driving forces acting on the oxygen vacancy distribution: diffusion due to the concentration gradient, drift due to the intrinsic electric field, and an oxygen vacancy trapping energy that holds oxygen vacancies at the interface. Our simulations show that at room temperature, three distinct regions are formed in SrTiO3 within days: (1) Oxygen vacancies are partially held at the interface due to the oxygen vacancy trapping energy. (2) The accompanying positive space charge causes an oxygen vacancy depletion layer with large electron concentration and high mobility just below the interface. This electron-defect separation, indeed, leads to a highly conductive region. (3) While we are able to describe measured conductivity data with an oxygen vacancy trapping energy of −0.2 eV, this value does not prevent oxygen vacancy diffusion into the bulk: A diffusion front progresses into the bulk and leads to significant conductivity arising over the first micrometer within a couple

Exploiting the electronic charge-transfer across oxide interfaces has emerged as a versatile tool to tailor the electronic and magnetic properties of oxides. Such charge-transfer concepts have been applied to drive insulating oxides into metallic states, to trigger magnetism in non-magnetic oxides, and to render gate-tunable low-dimensional superconductors. While the richness in the electronic and magnetic properties of these systems is the main focus of research, the implications for the ionic transport at oxide interfaces have not received much attention so far. In this communication, we propose that charge-transfer strategies can also be applied to boost ionic charge carrier concentrations at interfaces by orders of magnitude. Based on numerical space-charge modeling, we will illustrate how the ‘p-type’ charge-transfer predicted between SrO-terminated SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 may foster 2-dimensional oxygen ion conduction at the interface. The ion conduction is effectively separated from impurity dopants, which may allow large concentrations of oxygen vacancies to be achieved in the absence of trapping phenomena. The interface promises high ionic conductivity with nanoscale confinement, potentially allowing the design of field-tunable ionic devices.

The discovery of 2D conductivity at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface has been linking, for over a decade, two of the major current research fields in materials science: correlated transition-metal-oxide systems and low-dimensional systems. Notably, despite the 2D nature of the interfacial electron gas, the samples are 3D objects with thickness in the mm range. This prevented researchers so far from adopting strategies that are only viable for fully 2D materials, or from effectively exploiting degrees of freedom related to strain, strain gradient and curvature. Here a method based on pure strain engineering for obtaining freestanding LaAlO3/SrTiO3 membranes with micrometer lateral dimensions is demonstrated. Detailed transmission electron microscopy investigations show that the membranes are fully epitaxial and that their curvature results in a huge strain gradient, each layer showing a mixed compressive/tensile strain state. Electronic devices are fabricated by realizing ad hoc circuits for individual micro-membranes transferred on silicon chips. The samples exhibit metallic conductivity and electrostatic field effect like 2D-electron systems in bulk heterostructures. The results open a new path for adding oxide functionalities into semiconductor electronics, potentially allowing for ultra-low voltage gating of a superconducting transistors, micromechanical control of the 2D electron gas mediated by ferroelectricity and flexoelectricity, and on-chip straintronics.

A key step in engineering resistive switching is the ability to control the device switching behavior. Here, we investigate the possibility to tune the resistive switching of tantalum oxide (TaOx)-based memristors from a non-switchable state to a switchable state by applying post-fabrication annealing of the devices. The switching of the devices was found to be related to: (1) the oxidation state changes in the TaOx thin film after annealing and (2) the local variations in oxygen stoichiometry in the vicinity of the interface between the TiN electrode and the TaOx active resistive layer. We further discuss the possible mechanism behind the resistive switching after annealing. This experimental approach provides a simple but powerful pathway to trigger the resistive switching in devices that do not show any resistive switching initially.

Oxygen vacancies play crucial roles in determining the physical properties of metal oxides, representing important building blocks in many scientific and technological fields due to their unique chemical, physical, and electronic properties. However, oxygen vacancies are often invisible because of their dilute concentrations. Therefore, characterizing and quantifying their presence is of utmost importance for understanding and realizing functional metal oxide devices. This, however, is oftentimes a non-trivial task. In this Perspective paper, we discuss the relevant regimes of concentrations and associated phenomena arising from oxygen vacancies. We then focus on experimental techniques available for observing oxygen vacancies at widely different levels of concentrations. Finally, we discuss current challenges and opportunities for utilizing oxygen vacancies in metal oxides. F.G. thanks funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 713683 (COFUNDfellowsDTU). N.P. and D.V.C. would like to thank the support from the Independent Research Fund Denmark, Grant No. 6111-00145B. N.P. furthermore is thankful for support from the BioWings project funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020, Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) programme (Grant No. 801267). Y.Z.C. thanks the support from the Independent Research Fund Denmark, Grant No. 9041-00034B.

Numerous of the greatest inventions in modern society, such as solar cells, display panels, and transistors, rely on a simple concept: An external stimulus is applied to a material and the response is then utilized. Oxides often exhibit a colorful palette of responses to external stimuli due to the close coupling between lattice, spin, orbital, and charge degrees of freedom. In particular, oxide heterostructures where oxide thin films are deposited on SrTiO3 have proven to be a fertile playground for material scientists, and a vast amount of interesting theoretical and experimental studies showcase the wide tunabilities of these heterostructures when subjected to external stimuli. Here, the authors review how the properties of SrTiO3‐based heterostructures can be changed by external stimuli using electric fields, magnetic fields, light, stress, particle bombardment, liquids, gases, and temperature. The application of a single stimulus or several stimuli combined often leads to unexpected changes in properties which can open up for designing new devices as well as expanding the boundaries of our understanding within fundamental science.

Tunable electronic properties of transition metal oxides and their interfaces offer remarkable functionalities for future devices. The interest in these materials has been boosted with the discovery of a 2D electron gas (2DEG) at SrTiO3 (STO)‐based interfaces. For the majority of these systems, oxygen vacancies play a crucial role in the emergence of interface conductivity, ferromagnetism, and high electron mobility. Despite its great importance, controlling the density and spatial distribution of oxygen vacancies in a dynamic way remains extremely challenging. Here, lithography‐like writing of a metallic state at the interface between SrTiO3 and amorphous Si using X‐ray irradiation is reported. Using a combination of transport techniques and in operando photoemission spectroscopy, it is revealed in real time that the X‐ray radiation induces transfer of oxygen across the interface leading to the on‐demand formation of oxygen vacancies and a 2DEG in STO. The formed 2DEG stays stable in ambient conditions as the interface oxygen vacancies are stabilized by the capping of Si. The study provides a fundamental understanding of X‐ray‐induced redox reactions at the SrTiO3‐based interfaces and in addition shows the potential of X‐ray radiation for patterning stabile conductive pathways for future oxide‐based electronic devices.

Symmetry-imposed restrictions on the number of available pyroelectric and piezoelectric materials remain a major limitation as 22 out of 32 crystallographic material classes exhibit neither pyroelectricity nor piezoelectricity. Yet, by breaking the lattice symmetry it is possible to circumvent this limitation. Here, using a unique technique for measuring transient currents upon rapid heating, direct experimental evidence is provided that despite the fact that bulk SrTiO3 is not pyroelectric, the (100) surface of TiO2 -terminated SrTiO3 is intrinsically pyroelectric at room temperature. The pyroelectric layer is found to be ≈1 nm thick and, surprisingly, its polarization is comparable with that of strongly polar materials such as BaTiO3. The pyroelectric effect can be tuned ON/OFF by the formation or removal of a nanometric SiO2 layer. Using density functional theory, the pyroelectricity is found to be a result of polar surface relaxation, which can be suppressed by varying the lattice symmetry breaking using a SiO2 capping layer. The observation of pyroelectricity emerging at the SrTiO3 surface also implies that it is intrinsically piezoelectric. These findings may pave the way for observing and tailoring piezo- and pyroelectricity in any material through appropriate breaking of symmetry at surfaces and artificial nanostructures such as heterointerfaces and superlattices.

We report the electrical, magnetic and magnetotransport properties of Na and Mo dual doped Ca3-2xNa2xCo4-xMoxO9 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) polycrystalline samples. The results indicate that the strength of ferrimagnetic interaction decreases with increase in doping, as is evident from the observed decrease in Curie temperatures (TC). The substitution of non-magnetic Mo6+ ions (4d0) in CoO2 layers and the presence of oxygen vacancies are responsible for decrease in ligand field strength, which results in an enhanced magnetization in the low doped x = 0.025 sample due to a change from the low spin to partial high spin electron configuration. The electrical resistivity of samples exhibits a semiconducting-like behavior in the low temperature range, a strongly correlated Fermi liquid-like behavior in the intermediate temperature range, and an incoherent metal-like behavior in the temperature range 210-300 K. All the samples show a large negative magnetoresistance (MR) at low temperature with a maximum MR value of -59% for the x = 0.025 sample at 2 K and 16 T applied field. The MR values follow the observed trend in magnetization at 5 K and sharply increase below the Curie temperatures of the samples, suggesting that the ferrimagnetic interactions are mainly responsible for the decrease in electrical resistivity under an applied magnetic field.

A diluted oxide interface of LaAl1−xMnxO/SrTiO3 (LAMO/STO) provides a new way of tuning the ground states of the interface between the two band insulators of LAO and STO from metallic/superconducting to highly insulating. Increasing the Mn doping level (x) leads to a delicate control of the carrier density as well as a raise in the electron mobility and spin polarization. Herein, we demonstrate a tunable Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and spin polarization of LAMO/STO (0.2≤x≤0.3) by applying a back gate. The presence of SOC causes splitting of the energy band into two branches by a spin splitting energy. The maximum spin splitting energy depends on the Mn doping and decreases with the increasing Mn content and then vanishes at x=0.3. The carrier density dependence of the spin splitting energy for different compositions shows a dome-shaped behavior with a maximum at different normalized carrier densities. These findings have not yet been observed in LAO/STO interfaces. A fully back-gate-tunable spin-polarized two-dimensional electron liquid is observed at the interface with x=0.3 where only dxy orbits are populated (5.3×1012cm−2≤ns≤1.0×1013cm−2). The present results shed light on unexplored territory in SOC at STO-based oxide heterostructures and make LAMO/STO an intriguing platform for spin-related phenomena in 3d electron systems.

Two‐dimensional electronic states at interfaces are often endowed with novel properties that are promising for future technological applications. Defects at oxide interfaces, in particular, oxygen vacancies play a major role in controlling electronic and magnetic properties at the interfaces. In article number 1900645, Alla Chikina and co‐workers report lithography‐like writing of a metallic state at the interface between SrTiO3 and amorphous Si using X‐ray irradiation.