摘要
Lattice,charge,orbital,and spin are the four fundamental degrees of freedom in condensed matter,of which the interactive coupling derives tremendous novel physical phenomena,such as high-temperature superconductivity（high-T_c SC） and colossal magnetoresistance（CMR） in strongly correlated electronic system.Direct experimental observation of these freedoms is essential to understanding the structure-property relationship and the physics behind it,and also indispensable for designing new materials and devices.Scanning transmission electron microscopy（STEM） integrating multiple techniques of structure imaging and spectrum analysis,is a comprehensive platform for providing structural,chemical and electronic information of materials with a high spatial resolution.Benefiting from the development of aberration correctors,STEM has taken a big breakthrough towards sub-angstrom resolution in last decade and always steps forward to improve the capability of material characterization;many improvements have been achieved in recent years,thereby giving an indepth insight into material research.Here,we present a brief review of the recent advances of STEM by some representative examples of perovskite transition metal oxides;atomic-scale mapping of ferroelectric polarization,octahedral distortions and rotations,valence state,coordination and spin ordering are presented.We expect that this brief introduction about the current capability of STEM could facilitate the understanding of the relationship between functional properties and these fundamental degrees of freedom in complex oxides.
Lattice,charge,orbital,and spin are the four fundamental degrees of freedom in condensed matter,of which the interactive coupling derives tremendous novel physical phenomena,such as high-temperature superconductivity（high-T_c SC） and colossal magnetoresistance（CMR） in strongly correlated electronic system.Direct experimental observation of these freedoms is essential to understanding the structure-property relationship and the physics behind it,and also indispensable for designing new materials and devices.Scanning transmission electron microscopy（STEM） integrating multiple techniques of structure imaging and spectrum analysis,is a comprehensive platform for providing structural,chemical and electronic information of materials with a high spatial resolution.Benefiting from the development of aberration correctors,STEM has taken a big breakthrough towards sub-angstrom resolution in last decade and always steps forward to improve the capability of material characterization;many improvements have been achieved in recent years,thereby giving an indepth insight into material research.Here,we present a brief review of the recent advances of STEM by some representative examples of perovskite transition metal oxides;atomic-scale mapping of ferroelectric polarization,octahedral distortions and rotations,valence state,coordination and spin ordering are presented.We expect that this brief introduction about the current capability of STEM could facilitate the understanding of the relationship between functional properties and these fundamental degrees of freedom in complex oxides.
基金
Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Project
China(Grant No.2014CB921002)
the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.XDB07030200)
the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.51522212 and 51421002)
