Volume 4, Issue 1

January 2020

Browse Issues:

HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLES

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

RAPID COMMUNICATION

Thermal nucleation and high-resolution imaging of submicrometer magnetic bubbles in thin thulium iron garnet films with perpendicular anisotropy

Felix Büttner, Mohamad A. Mawass, Jackson Bauer, Ethan Rosenberg, Lucas Caretta, Can Onur Avci, Joachim Gräfe, Simone Finizio, C. A. F. Vaz, Nina Novakovic, Markus Weigand, Kai Litzius, Johannes Förster, Nick Träger, Felix Groß, Daniel Suzuki, Mantao Huang, Jason Bartell, Florian Kronast, Jörg Raabe, Gisela Schütz, Caroline A. Ross, and Geoffrey S. D. Beach

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 011401(R) (2020) - Published 28 January, 2020

Nanometer-thin rare-earth iron garnet films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy are among the most promising materials for fast and low-energy spintronics applications. Here, the authors demonstrate ultrafast control of intrinsically stabilized submicrometer bubble domains in these materials. By employing powerful x-ray imaging techniques both in transmission and with surface sensitivity, and by combining this with nanosecond electrical pulses and femtosecond laser excitation, they deterministically create, and image, these bubble states $i n$ $s i t u$ . The topology, the chirality, and the switching phase diagram of these twisted spin structures are all resolved by direct imaging.

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

First-principles investigation of the phase stability and early stages of precipitation in Mg-Sn alloys

Kang Wang, Du Cheng, Chu-Liang Fu, and Bi-Cheng Zhou

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013606 (2020) - Published 28 January, 2020

Recently, remarkable experimental progress has been made toward understanding the metastable phases in Mg-Sn alloys, a promising candidate for rare-earth-free Mg-based alloys. However, the detailed structures and stability of these phases remain unclear. Here, the authors addressed this question comprehensively using a combined approach of density functional theory, cluster expansion, and Monte Carlo calculations. In addition, the preferred atomic-scale ordering at localized regions and its role in the early stages of precipitation are revealed, suggesting a new precipitation sequence in accordance with experiments. This work paves the way for designing precipitation-strengthened rare-earth-free Mg-Sn based alloys.

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Geometrical frustration and piezoelectric response in oxide ferroics

Valeri Petkov, Jong-Woo Kim, Sarvjit Shastri, Shashaank Gupta, and Shashank Priya

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014405 (2020) - Published 13 January, 2020

Ferroic perovskite oxides remain a major topic of interest in material science and condensed matter physics. Their versatile structure can accommodate many transition metal ions leading to a variety of useful properties, such as, among others, ferroelectricity. Several mechanisms behind the ferroelectricity of perovskites have been proposed. Using advanced x-ray scattering techniques and 3D modeling, the increased piezoelectric response of the exemplary sodium-potassium niobate ferroics is shown to arise from the presence of local ﬂuctuations in the tilt pattern of the constituent niobium-oxygen octahedra. The result implies that the search for perovskite ferroics with increased functionality need not necessarily concentrate on systems exhibiting a morphotropic boundary and/or distinct polar nanodomains. Inducing local structural disorder in a controlled manner, e.g. through measured metal ion substitution, may become worthwhile.

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Polar or not polar? The interplay between reconstruction, Sr enrichment, and reduction at the ${La}_{0.75} {Sr}_{0.25} {MnO}_{3}$ (001) surface

Franziska Hess and Bilge Yildiz

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 015801 (2020) - Published 31 January, 2020

Polar surfaces created upon truncation of a crystal are unstable and give rise to surface reconstruction and defect segregation. Employing a computational approach, we identify an unpolar reconstruction of the La $_{0.75}$ Sr $_{0.25}$ MnO $_{3 + δ}$ perovskite (001) surface. Its main characteristics are the association of cation and oxygen vacancies, and presence of the dopant, Sr, at the surface. This surface structure can be a key puzzle piece to understand the interaction of perovskite oxide surfaces with small molecules in the gas phase, such as O $_{2}$ , H $_{2}$ O, and CO $_{2}$ . And finding this surface structure and the conditions that stabilize it is an important step for rationally designing materials with long term stability in energy conversion and catalysis.

RAPID COMMUNICATIONS

Topological and Dirac materials

RAPID COMMUNICATION

Large-scale interlayer rotations and Te grain boundaries in ${(Bi, Sb)}_{2} {Te}_{3}$ thin films

Danielle Reifsnyder Hickey, Ryan J. Wu, Joon Sue Lee, Javad G. Azadani, Roberto Grassi, Mahendra DC, Jian-Ping Wang, Tony Low, Nitin Samarth, and K. Andre Mkhoyan

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 011201(R) (2020) - Published 15 January, 2020

Magnetic, ferroelectric, and multiferroic materials

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

RAPID COMMUNICATION

Thermal nucleation and high-resolution imaging of submicrometer magnetic bubbles in thin thulium iron garnet films with perpendicular anisotropy

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 011401(R) (2020) - Published 28 January, 2020

ARTICLES

Crystal growth, crystallization, and kinetics

Matching different symmetries with an atomically sharp interface: Epitaxial ${Ba}_{2} {SiO}_{4}$ on Si(001)

Julian Koch, Knut Müller-Caspary, and Herbert Pfnür

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013401 (2020) - Published 9 January, 2020

Structural and magnetic properties of co-sputtered ${Fe}_{0.8} C_{0.2}$ thin films

Prabhat Kumar, V. R. Reddy, V. Ganesan, Mukul Gupta, I. Sergueev, O. Leupold, and H.-C. Wille

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013402 (2020) - Published 13 January, 2020

Synthesis and physical properties of the new iridium oxyfluoride $S r_{2} Ir {(O, F)}_{6 - δ}$ using a topochemical reaction method

K. Kuramochi, T. Shimano, T. Nishio, H. Okabe, A. Koda, K. Horigane, J. Akimitsu, and H. Ogino

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013403 (2020) - Published 22 January, 2020

Influence of the source arrangement on shell growth around GaN nanowires in molecular beam epitaxy

D. van Treeck, S. Fernández-Garrido, and L. Geelhaar

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013404 (2020) - Published 27 January, 2020

Large negative magnetoresistance in the antiferromagnetic rare-earth dichalcogenide ${EuTe}_{2}$

Junjie Yin, Changwei Wu, Lisi Li, Jia Yu, Hualei Sun, Bing Shen, Benjamin A. Frandsen, Dao-Xin Yao, and Meng Wang

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013405 (2020) - Published 28 January, 2020

Structural and mechanical properties

Defect and density evolution under high-fluence ion irradiation of $Si / {SiO}_{2}$ heterostructures

F. Djurabekova, C. Fridlund, and K. Nordlund

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013601 (2020) - Published 3 January, 2020

Interface characteristics in an $α + β$ titanium alloy

Abigail K. Ackerman, Vassili A. Vorontsov, Ioannis Bantounas, Yufeng Zheng, Yanhong Chang, Thomas McAuliffe, William A. Clark, Hamish L. Fraser, Baptiste Gault, David Rugg, and David Dye

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013602 (2020) - Published 9 January, 2020

Pattern formation during deformation of metallic nanolaminates

Adrien Gola, Ruth Schwaiger, Peter Gumbsch, and Lars Pastewka

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013603 (2020) - Published 10 January, 2020

Insights into the elastic properties of RE- $i$ -MAX phases and their potential exfoliation into two-dimensional RE- $i$ -MXenes

A. Champagne, F. Ricci, M. Barbier, T. Ouisse, D. Magnin, S. Ryelandt, T. Pardoen, G. Hautier, M. W. Barsoum, and J.-C. Charlier

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013604 (2020) - Published 13 January, 2020

Atomistic description of self-diffusion in molybdenum: A comparative theoretical study of non-Arrhenius behavior

Daria Smirnova, Sergei Starikov, Grisell Díaz Leines, Yanyan Liang, Ning Wang, Maxim N. Popov, Igor A. Abrikosov, Davide G. Sangiovanni, Ralf Drautz, and Matous Mrovec

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013605 (2020) - Published 14 January, 2020

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

First-principles investigation of the phase stability and early stages of precipitation in Mg-Sn alloys

Kang Wang, Du Cheng, Chu-Liang Fu, and Bi-Cheng Zhou

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013606 (2020) - Published 28 January, 2020

Development of new methods for materials

Nanoscale imaging of the full strain tensor of specific dislocations extracted from a bulk sample

Felix Hofmann, Nicholas W. Phillips, Suchandrima Das, Phani Karamched, Gareth M. Hughes, James O. Douglas, Wonsuk Cha, and Wenjun Liu

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013801 (2020) - Published 14 January, 2020

Displacive phase-field crystal model

Eli Alster, K. R. Elder, and Peter W. Voorhees

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013802 (2020) - Published 21 January, 2020

Broadband circular polarization time-domain terahertz spectroscopy

Evan V. Jasper, T. T. Mai, M. T. Warren, R. K. Smith, D. M. Heligman, E. McCormick, Y. S. Ou, M. Sheffield, and R. Valdés Aguilar

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 013803 (2020) - Published 23 January, 2020

Two-dimensional materials

Raman and IR spectra of graphdiyne nanoribbons

Patrick Serafini, Alberto Milani, Matteo Tommasini, Chiara Castiglioni, and Carlo S. Casari

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014001 (2020) - Published 2 January, 2020

Transient hot-carrier dynamics and intrinsic velocity saturation in monolayer $Mo S_{2}$

J. Nathawat, K. K. H. Smithe, C. D. English, S. Yin, R. Dixit, M. Randle, N. Arabchigavkani, B. Barut, K. He, E. Pop, and J. P. Bird

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014002 (2020) - Published 10 January, 2020

Morphology control of epitaxial monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

Akhil Rajan, Kaycee Underwood, Federico Mazzola, and Philip D. C. King

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014003 (2020) - Published 15 January, 2020

Defect-limited thermal conductivity in ${MoS}_{2}$

C. A. Polanco, T. Pandey, T. Berlijn, and L. Lindsay

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014004 (2020) - Published 16 January, 2020

Quantitative insights into the growth mechanisms of nanopores in hexagonal boron nitride

Ouafi Mouhoub, Rafael Martinez-Gordillo, Jaysen Nelayah, Guillaume Wang, Ji-Hoon Park, Ki Kang Kim, Young Hee Lee, Christophe Bichara, Annick Loiseau, Christian Ricolleau, Hakim Amara, and Damien Alloyeau

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014005 (2020) - Published 21 January, 2020

Magnetic, ferroelectric, and multiferroic materials

Thickness dependence of transport behaviors in $SrRu O_{3} / SrTi O_{3}$ superlattices

Ping-Chun Wu, Haili Song, Ye Yuan, Bin Feng, Yuichi Ikuhara, Rong Huang, Pu Yu, Chun-Gang Duan, and Ying-Hao Chu

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014401 (2020) - Published 3 January, 2020

Unveiling the mechanism of abnormal magnetic behavior of FeNiCoMnCu high-entropy alloys through a joint experimental-theoretical study

Ziyuan Rao, Biswanath Dutta, Fritz Körmann, Dirk Ponge, Linlin Li, Junyang He, Leigh Stephenson, Lukas Schäfer, Konstantin Skokov, Oliver Gutfleisch, Dierk Raabe, and Zhiming Li

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014402 (2020) - Published 10 January, 2020

Orientation control of oxygen vacancy channels in brownmillerite $SrFe O_{2.5}$

Muhammad Shahrukh Saleem, Cheng Song, Youdi Gu, Ruyi Chen, Muhammad Umer Fayaz, Yanmin Hao, and Feng Pan

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014403 (2020) - Published 10 January, 2020

Magnetic anisotropy in single-crystal high-entropy perovskite oxide $La (C r_{0.2} M n_{0.2} F e_{0.2} C o_{0.2} N i_{0.2}) O_{3}$ films

Yogesh Sharma, Qiang Zheng, Alessandro R. Mazza, Elizabeth Skoropata, Thomas Heitmann, Zheng Gai, Brianna Musico, Paul F. Miceli, Brian C. Sales, Veerle Keppens, Matthew Brahlek, and Thomas Z. Ward

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014404 (2020) - Published 13 January, 2020

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Geometrical frustration and piezoelectric response in oxide ferroics

Valeri Petkov, Jong-Woo Kim, Sarvjit Shastri, Shashaank Gupta, and Shashank Priya

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014405 (2020) - Published 13 January, 2020

Contributions of magnetic structure and nitrogen to perpendicular magnetocrystalline anisotropy in antiperovskite $ɛ − M n_{4} N$

Shinji Isogami, Keisuke Masuda, and Yoshio Miura

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014406 (2020) - Published 13 January, 2020

Determination of crystallographic chirality of MnSi thin film grown on Si (111) substrate

Daisuke Morikawa, Yuichi Yamasaki, Naoya Kanazawa, Tomoyuki Yokouchi, Yoshinori Tokura, and Taka-hisa Arima

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014407 (2020) - Published 21 January, 2020

Long- and short-range magnetism in the frustrated double perovskite $B a_{2} MnW O_{6}$

Heather Mutch, Otto Mustonen, Helen C. Walker, Peter J. Baker, Gavin B. G. Stenning, Fiona C. Coomer, and Edmund J. Cussen

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014408 (2020) - Published 27 January, 2020

Molecular beam epitaxy of CuMnAs

Filip Krizek, Zdeněk Kašpar, Aliaksei Vetushka, Dominik Kriegner, Elisabetta M. Fiordaliso, Jan Michalicka, Ondřej Man, Jan Zubáč, Martin Brajer, Victoria A. Hills, Kevin W. Edmonds, Peter Wadley, Richard P. Campion, Kamil Olejník, Tomáš Jungwirth, and Vít Novák

Phys. Rev. Materials 4, 014409 (2020) - Published 31 January, 2020