Perspective and Prospects for Ordered Functional Materials

Abstract

Many functional materials are approaching their performance limits due to inherent trade‐offs between essential physical properties. Such trade‐offs can be overcome by engineering a material that has an ordered arrangement of structural units, including constituent components/phases, grains, and domains. By rationally manipulating the ordering with abundant structural units at multiple length scales, the structural ordering opens up unprecedented opportunities to create transformative functional materials, as amplified properties or disruptive functionalities can be realized. In this perspective article, a brief overview of recent advances in the emerging ordered functional materials across catalytic, thermoelectric, and magnetic materials regarding the fabrication, structure, and property is presented. Then the possibility of applying this structural ordering strategy to highly efficient neuromorphic computing devices and durable battery materials is discussed. Finally, remaining scientific challenges are highlighted, and the prospects for ordered functional materials are made. This perspective aims to draw the attention of the scientific community to the emerging ordered functional materials and trigger intense studies on this topic.

Zero-field-cooling exchange bias up to room temperature in the strained kagome antiferromagnet Mn3.1Sn0.9

“…The results show that both the values of a and c vary monotonically as σ increases, but a decreases while c increases abnormally, indicating the anisotropy of residual strain energy to lattice distortion in Mn 3.1 Sn 0.9 , which may originate from changes in the magnetic structure. 41,58,59 An abnormal increase in c due to the application of uniaxial stress was also observed in ref. 37.…”

Modular preparation of functional bimetallic spinels from metal–organic frameworks: a deep exploration from macro and micro perspectives

“…[6][7][8] However, the performance of some functional materials is constantly approaching their limiting value and is still insufficient to meet the needs. 9,10 To address this challenge, it is necessary to further explore and commercialize functional materials that can meet performance requirements, [11][12][13] thus solving environmental pollution and energy crises to a certain extent. [14][15][16] In recent years, bimetallic spinels consisting of the Fd 3m space group 17 have been rapidly developed as an important class of functional materials due to their special crystal structure.…”

“…6–8 However, the performance of some functional materials is constantly approaching their limiting value and is still insufficient to meet the needs. 9,10 To address this challenge, it is necessary to further explore and commercialize functional materials that can meet performance requirements, 11–13 thus solving environmental pollution and energy crises to a certain extent. 14–16…”

Strain- and Oxygen-Modulated Anomalous Hall Effect in the SrRuO3/Sr3Al2O6 Heterostructure

“…In condensed matter physics, the interaction between strongly correlated electrons and spin–orbit coupling (SOC) in quantum systems can lead to a variety of intriguing topological phases, , including topological semimetal, − topological superconductor, , and topological insulator . These topological phases provide fertile ground for the development of advanced electronic devices, such as dissipationless topological electronics, topological quantum computation, and low-power-consumption spintronics. , The Berry curvature, which is a topological property of electronic band structures in the momentum space, plays a critical role in topological transport phenomena, including quantum, spin, and anomalous Hall effects. − …”

“…9 These topological phases provide fertile ground for the development of advanced electronic devices, such as dissipationless topological electronics, topological quantum computation, and low-powerconsumption spintronics. 10,11 The Berry curvature, which is a topological property of electronic band structures in the momentum space, plays a critical role in topological transport phenomena, including quantum, spin, and anomalous Hall effects. 12− 16 SrRuO 3 (SRO), a 4d itinerant ferromagnet, is an extensively explored oxide with the nontrivial band structure, which is highly sensitive to the intrinsic Berry curvature, especially with the Fermi level near the band crossing position.…”