The origin of ferromagnetism in ZnO-based systems was investigated using Co-doped ZnO thin films as prototypical examples of II–VI-based diluted magnetic semiconductors. In spite of the atomic-scale dissolution of Co ions in wurtzite ZnO, both the magnetization-temperature curve and the magnetization-field curve demonstrated that Zn1−xCoxO thin films were paramagnetic for x⩽0.12. On the other hand, Zn1−xCoxO films with x greater than 0.12 were characterized by the Co-metal clustering and apparently showed room-temperature ferromagnetism. The discrepancy between the zero-field cooling and the field cooling curves further indicates that Co-doped ZnO films (for x>0.12) are superparamagnetic and the observed ferromagnetism originates from the nanometer-sized Co clusters.

Gauss's law dictates that the net electric field inside a conductor in electrostatic equilibrium is zero by effective charge screening; free carriers within a metal eliminate internal dipoles that may arise owing to asymmetric charge distributions. Quantum physics supports this view, demonstrating that delocalized electrons make a static macroscopic polarization, an ill-defined quantity in metals--it is exceedingly unusual to find a polar metal that exhibits long-range ordered dipoles owing to cooperative atomic displacements aligned from dipolar interactions as in insulating phases. Here we describe the quantum mechanical design and experimental realization of room-temperature polar metals in thin-film ANiO3 perovskite nickelates using a strategy based on atomic-scale control of inversion-preserving (centric) displacements. We predict with ab initio calculations that cooperative polar A cation displacements are geometrically stabilized with a non-equilibrium amplitude and tilt pattern of the corner-connected NiO6 octahedral--the structural signatures of perovskites--owing to geometric constraints imposed by the underlying substrate. Heteroepitaxial thin-films grown on LaAlO3 (111) substrates fulfil the design principles. We achieve both a conducting polar monoclinic oxide that is inaccessible in compositionally identical films grown on (001) substrates, and observe a hidden, previously unreported, non-equilibrium structure in thin-film geometries. We expect that the geometric stabilization approach will provide novel avenues for realizing new multifunctional materials with unusual coexisting properties.

Strontium titanate (SrTiO3) is the first and best known superconducting semiconductor. It exhibits an extremely low carrier density threshold for superconductivity, and possesses a phase diagram similar to that of high-temperature superconductors--two factors that suggest an unconventional pairing mechanism. Despite sustained interest for 50 years, direct experimental insight into the nature of electron pairing in SrTiO3 has remained elusive. Here we perform transport experiments with nanowire-based single-electron transistors at the interface between SrTiO3 and a thin layer of lanthanum aluminate, LaAlO3. Electrostatic gating reveals a series of two-electron conductance resonances-paired electron states--that bifurcate above a critical pairing field Bp of about 1-4 tesla, an order of magnitude larger than the superconducting critical magnetic field. For magnetic fields below Bp, these resonances are insensitive to the applied magnetic field; for fields in excess of Bp, the resonances exhibit a linear Zeeman-like energy splitting. Electron pairing is stable at temperatures as high as 900 millikelvin, well above the superconducting transition temperature (about 300 millikelvin). These experiments demonstrate the existence of a robust electronic phase in which electrons pair without forming a superconducting state. Key experimental signatures are captured by a model involving an attractive Hubbard interaction that describes real-space electron pairing as a precursor to superconductivity.

The enhancement of the functional properties of materials at reduced dimensions is crucial for continuous advancements in nanoelectronic applications. Here, we report that the scale reduction leads to the emergence of an important functional property, ferroelectricity, challenging the long-standing notion that ferroelectricity is inevitably suppressed at the scale of a few nanometers. A combination of theoretical calculations, electrical measurements, and structural analyses provides evidence of room-temperature ferroelectricity in strain-free epitaxial nanometer-thick films of otherwise nonferroelectric strontium titanate (SrTiO3). We show that electrically induced alignment of naturally existing polar nanoregions is responsible for the appearance of a stable net ferroelectric polarization in these films. This finding can be useful for the development of low-dimensional material systems with enhanced functional properties relevant to emerging nanoelectronic devices.

Highly (111)-oriented rhombohedral BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films were grown on (111) SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Polarized Raman-scattering study of the (111)-oriented epitaxial BFO thin film with rhombohedral R3c symmetry was carried out by employing two distinct backscattering geometries. The A1-symmetry transverse-optical [A1(TO)] phonons were selectively isolated from the E-symmetry transverse-optical [E(TO)] phonons by employing Y′(ZZ)Y′ polarization configuration in a novel side-view backscattering. By comparing the Y′(ZZ)Y′ spectrum with the Z(X′X′)Z polarization spectrum in a normal backscattering, we were able to assign most of A1 and E-symmetry normal modes of R3c BFO. In addition, we found that there was a negligible LO-TO splitting in the A1-symmetry normal modes.