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° spin switching between states. We demonstrate a previously unobserved 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 < 3) to eightfold 〈111〉 directions (N ≥ 3). This eightfold anisotropy enables 71° and 109° spin switching in SrRuO3 monolayers, analogous to 71° and 109° 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, multistate device applications.
We use first-principles methods to study doped strong ferroelectrics (taking BaTiO3 as a prototype). Here, we find a strong coupling between itinerant electrons and soft polar phonons in doped BaTiO3, 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 BaTiO3, 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 BaTiO3 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.
Oxide heterostructures exhibit many intriguing properties. Here we provide design principles for inducing multiple topological states in (001) (AMO3)1/($$AM^{\prime}$$ A M ′ O3)1 oxide superlattices. Aided by first-principles calculations and model analysis, we show that a (SrMO3)1/(Sr$$M^{\prime}$$ M ′ O3)1 superlattice (M = Nb, Ta and $$M^{\prime}$$ M ′ = Rh, Ir) is a strong topological insulator with Z2 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 non-trivial topological states in (001) perovskite oxide heterostructures by rational design.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.