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Register a new userIonic Tuning of Cobaltites at the Nanoscale
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Control of materials through custom design of ionic distributions represents a powerful new approach to develop future technologies ranging from spintronic logic and memory devices to energy storage. Perovskites have shown particular promise for ionic devices due to their high ion mobility and sensitivity to chemical stoichiometry. In this work, we demonstrate a solid-state approach to control of ionic distributions in (La,Sr)CoO$_{3}$ thin films. Depositing a Gd capping layer on the perovskite film, oxygen is controllably extracted from the structure, up-to 0.5 O/u.c. throughout the entire 36 nm thickness. Commensurate with the oxygen extraction, the Co valence state and saturation magnetization show a smooth continuous variation. In contrast, magnetoresistance measurements show no-change in the magnetic anisotropy and a rapid increase in the resistivity over the same range of oxygen stoichiometry. These results suggest significant phase separation, with metallic ferromagnetic regions and oxygen-deficient, insulating, non-ferromagnetic regions, forming percolated networks. Indeed, X-ray diffraction identifies oxygen-vacancy ordering, including transformation to a brownmillerite crystal structure. The unexpected transformation to the brownmillerite phase at ambient temperature is further confirmed by high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy which shows significant structural - and correspondingly chemical - phase separation. This work demonstrates room-temperature ionic control of magnetism, electrical resistivity, and crystalline structure in a 36 nm thick film, presenting new opportunities for ionic devices that leverage multiple material functionalities.
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We report on the magnetic, resistive, and structural studies of perovskite La$_{1/3}$Sr$_{2/3}$CoO$_{3-delta}$. By using the relation of synthesis temperature and oxygen partial pressure to oxygen stoichiometry obtained from thermogravimetric analysis, we have synthesized a series of samples with precisely controlled $delta=0.00-0.49$. These samples show three structural phases at $delta=0.00-0.15$, $approx0.25$, $approx0.5$, and two-phase behavior for other oxygen contents. The stoichiometric material with $delta=0.00$ is a cubic ferromagnetic metal with the Curie temperature $T_{rm C}=274$ K. The increase of $delta$ to 0.15 is followed by a linear decrease of $T_{rm C}$ to $approx$ 160 K and a metal-insulator transition near the boundary of the cubic structure range. Further increase of $delta$ results in formation of a tetragonal $2a_ptimes 2a_p times 4a_p$ phase for $deltaapprox 0.25$ and a brownmillerite phase for $deltaapprox0.5$. At low temperatures, these are weak ferromagnetic insulators (canted antiferromagnets) with magnetic transitions at $T_{rm m}approx230$ and 120 K, respectively. At higher temperatures, the $2a_ptimes 2a_p times 4a_p$ phase is $G$-type antiferromagnetic between 230 K and $approx$360 K. Low temperature magnetic properties of this system for $delta<1/3$ can be described in terms of a mixture of Co$^{3+}$ ions in the low-spin state and Co$^{4+}$ ions in the intermediate-spin state and a possible spin transition of Co$^{3+}$ to the intermediate-spin state above $T_{rm C}$. For $delta>1/3$, there appears to be a combination of Co$^{2+}$ and Co$^{3+}$ ions, both in the high-spin state with dominating antiferromagnetic interactions.
Modern polarization theory yields surface bound charge associated with spontaneous polarization of bulk. However, understanding polarization in nano systems also requires a proper treatment of charge transfer between surface dangling bonds. Here, we develop a real-space approach for total polarization and apply it to wurtzite semiconductors and BaTiO3 perovskite. First-principles calculations utilizing this approach not only yield spontaneous bulk polarization in agreement with Berry phase calculations, but also uncover phenomena specific to nano systems. As an example, we show surface passivation leads to a complete quenching of the piezoelectric effect, which reemerges only at larger length scale and/or spontaneous polarization.
We present a quantum-kinetic scheme for the calculation of non-equilibrium transport properties in nanoscale systems. The approach is based on a Liouville-master equation for a reduced density operator and represents a generalization of the well-known Boltzmann kinetic equation. The system, subject to an external electromotive force, is described using periodic boundary conditions. We demonstrate the feasibility of the approach by applying it to a double-barrier resonant tunneling structure.
In this letter we propose a model that demonstrates the effect of free surface on the lattice resistance experienced by a moving dislocation in nanodimensional systems. This effect manifests in an enhanced velocity of dislocation due to the proximity of the dislocation line to the surface. To verify this finding, molecular dynamics simulations for an edge dislocation in bcc molybdenum are performed and the results are found to be in agreement with the numerical implementations of this model. The reduction in this effect at higher stresses and temperatures, as revealed by the simulations, confirms the role of lattice resistance behind the observed change in the dislocation velocity.
Mallinsons idea that some spin textures in planar magnetic structures could produce an enhancement of the magnetic flux on one side of the plane at the expense of the other gave rise to permanent magnet configurations known as Halbach magnet arrays. Applications range from wiggler magnets in particle accelerators and free electron lasers, to motors, to magnetic levitation trains, but exploiting Halbach arrays in micro- or nanoscale spintronics devices requires solving the problem of fabrication and field metrology below 100 {mu}m size. In this work we show that a Halbach configuration of moments can be obtained over areas as small as 1 x 1 {mu}m^2 in sputtered thin films with Neel-type domain walls of unique domain wall chirality, and we measure their stray field at a controlled probe-sample distance of 12.0 x 0.5 nm. Because here chirality is determined by the interfacial Dyzaloshinkii-Moriya interaction the field attenuation and amplification is an intrinsic property of this film, allowing for flexibility of design based on an appropriate definition of magnetic domains. 100 nm-wide skyrmions illustrate the smallest kind of such structures, for which our measurement of stray magnetic fields and mapping of the spin structure shows they funnel the field toward one specific side of the film given by the sign of the Dyzaloshinkii-Moriya interaction parameter D.
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