Atomic-Scale Origin of the Quasi-One-Dimensional Metallic Conductivity in Strontium Niobates with Perovskite-Related Layered Structures.

The quasi-one-dimensional (1D) metallic conductivity of the perovskite-related SrNbO compounds is of continuing fundamental physical interest as well as being important for developing advanced electronic devices. The SrNbO compounds can be derived by introducing additional oxygen into the SrNbO perovskite. However, the physical origin for the transition of electrical properties from the three-dimensional (3D) isotropic conductivity in SrNbO to the quasi-1D metallic conductivity in SrNbO requires more in-depth clarification.

Patterning Oxide Nanopillars at the Atomic Scale by Phase Transformation.

Phase transformations in crystalline materials are common in nature and often modify dramatically properties of materials. The ability to precisely control them with a high spatial precision represents a significant step forward in realizing new functionalities in confined dimensions. However, such control is extremely challenging particularly at the atomic scale due to the intricacies in governing thermodynamic conditions with a high spatial accuracy.

Spontaneous structural distortion and quasi-one-dimensional quantum confinement in a single-phase compound.

Oxide heterointerfaces often trigger unusual electronic properties that are absent in respective bulks. Here, direct evidence is offered for spontaneously assembled local structural distortions in a single-phase bulk, which confine electrons to within an atomic layer with notable orbital reconstruction and coupling, close the forbidden band, induce a ferromagnetic ordering, and give rise to a strongly anisotropic, spin-polarized quasi-one-dimensional electron gas.