2023年物理科学一处评审工作综述

2023年度国家自然科学基金评审工作已经结束,文章对物理科学一处本年度申请和资助项目情况进行了统计分析,将一年来的评审工作结果向科技界汇报。同时,对申请和资助过程中一些新政策、新动向以及碰到的一些新情况、新问题进行归纳和总结,供广大科研人员参考。物理科学一处各项工作得到了科技界专家们的大力支持,在此向长期以来支持我们工作的专家们表示衷心感谢!

In-Situ Atomic-Scale Observation of Brownmillerite to Ruddlesden-Popper Phase Transition Tuned by Epitaxial Strain in Cobaltites

Phase transitions involving oxygen ion extraction within the framework of the crystallographic relevance have been widely exploited for sake of superconductivity,ferromagnetism,and ion conductivity in perovskiterelated oxides.However,atomic-scale pathways of phase transitions and ion extraction threshold are inadequately understood.Here we investigate the atomic structure evolution of LaCoO_(3) films upon oxygen extraction and subsequent Co migration,focusing on the key role of epitaxial strain.The brownmillerite to Ruddlesden-Popper phase transitions are discovered to stabilize at distinct crystal orientations in compressive-and tensile-strained cobaltites,which could be attributed to in-plane and out-of-plane Ruddlesden-Popper stacking faults,respectively.A two-stage process from exterior to interior phase transition is evidenced in compressive-strained LaCoO_(2.5),while a single-step nucleation process leaving bottom layer unchanged in tensile-strained situation.Strain analyses reveal that the former process is initiated by an expansion in Co layer at boundary,whereas the latter one is associated with an edge dislocation combined with antiphase boundary.These findings provide a chemomechanical perspective on the structure regulation of perovskite oxides and enrich insights into strain-dependent phase diagram in epitaxial oxides films.

钴氧化物中晶格与自旋的关联耦合效应研究

强关联电子体系具有多序参量耦合且极易受到外场高效调控的特性.钴氧化物(LaCoO3)是一类典型的多铁性(兼具铁弹性和铁磁性)氧化物材料,受到了研究者们广泛和深入的研究.过去,针对钴氧化物的研究都集中于应力作用下的铁弹性相变和结构调控方面.近年来,研究人员新奇地发现钴氧化物薄膜在张应力作用下发生顺磁到铁磁相转变,但其根源一直存在较大争议.部分实验证据表明应力将会导致钴离子价态降低产生自旋态转变,而另一些研究者认为应力诱导的纳米畴结构会呈现高自旋态的长程有序排列,才是钴氧化物薄膜铁磁性的主要原因.本综述主要介绍近几年来钴氧化物薄膜和异质结中自旋与晶格之间关联耦合效应的系列进展.在保持钴离子价态不变时,通过薄膜厚度、晶格失配应力、晶体对称性、表面形貌、界面氧离子配位和氧八面体倾转等结构因素诱导钴氧化物薄膜的自旋态可逆转变,从而形成高度可调的宏观磁性.进而,研究者们利用原子级精度可控的薄膜生长技术构筑了单原胞层钴氧化物超晶格,通过高效的结构调控,实现了超薄二维磁性氧化物材料.这些系列进展不仅澄清了强关联电子体系中晶格与自旋等序参量之间的强耦合关系,而且为实现氧化物自旋电子器件所需的超薄室温铁磁材料提供了优良的候选者.

外场对拓扑相变氧化物薄膜物性的调控研究进展

钙钛矿型过渡金属氧化物在外场激励下可以通过得失氧离子发生显著的结构拓扑相变,同时伴随着输运、磁性、光学等物性的巨大变化,是近年来被重点关注的研究体系,在固态氧化物燃料电池、氧气传感器、催化活性、智能光学窗口以及神经形态计算器件中具有巨大的应用前景.本工作回顾了近年来国内外研究小组在拓扑相变氧化物薄膜及其物性调控方面的工作进展,详细介绍了这类典型薄膜材料在应力场、电场、光场、温度场等外场激励下呈现出的新奇物性,并讨论了其基本物理机制.本综述旨在进一步认识此类材料中的电荷、晶格、轨道等量子序之间的微观耦合机制及其与宏观物性的关联,相关研究有望为基于功能氧化物的高灵敏度、弱场响应的电子器件提供新材料、新途径和新思路.

High-performance synaptic transistors for neuromorphic computing

The further development of traditional von Neumann-architecture computers is limited by the breaking of Moore’s law and the von Neumann bottleneck, which make them unsuitable for future high-performance artificial intelligence (AI)systems. Therefore, new computing paradigms are desperately needed. Inspired by the human brain, neuromorphic computing is proposed to realize AI while reducing power consumption. As one of the basic hardware units for neuromorphic computing, artificial synapses have recently aroused worldwide research interests. Among various electronic devices that mimic biological synapses, synaptic transistors show promising properties, such as the ability to perform signal transmission and learning simultaneously, allowing dynamic spatiotemporal information processing applications. In this article, we provide a review of recent advances in electrolyte-and ferroelectric-gated synaptic transistors. Their structures, materials,working mechanisms, advantages, and disadvantages will be presented. In addition, the challenges of developing advanced synaptic transistors are discussed.

A synaptic transistor with NdNiO3

Recently, neuromorphic devices for artificial intelligence applications have attracted much attention. In this work, a three-terminal electrolyte-gated synaptic transistor based on NdNiO3 epitaxial films, a typical correlated electron material, is presented. The voltage-controlled metal-insulator transition was achieved by inserting and extracting H+ ions in the NdNiO3 channel through electrolyte gating. The non-volatile conductance change reached 104 under a 2 V gate voltage. By manipulating the amount of inserted protons, the three-terminal NdNiO3 artificial synapse imitated important synaptic functions, such as synaptic plasticity and spike-timing-dependent plasticity. These results show that the correlated material NdNiO3 has great potential for applications in neuromorphic devices.

Ultraviolet Sensitive Ultrafast Photovoltaic Effect in Tilted KTaO3 Single Crystals

An ultraviolet sensitive ultrafast photovoltaic effect is observed in tilted 10° KTaO3 （KT） single crystals. The rise time of the transient photovoltaic pulse is 497.4 ps and the full width at half maximum is 974.6 ps under irradiation of a 266 nm laser pulse with 25 ps duration. An open-circuit photovoltage sensitivity of 328 mV/mJ and a photocurrent sensitivity of 460 mA/mJ are obtained. The experimental results demonstrate the potential applications of KT single crystals in ultraviolet detection.

Photoelectric property of LaAlO_(3-δ)/Si heterojunctions with different oxygen contents

Three oxide heterojunctions made of LaAlO3-δ/Si are fabricated under various oxygen pressures by laser molecular-beam epitaxy. They all show nonlinear and rectifying current-voltage characteristics, and the distinct difference in rectification behaviour among them. Their photoelectric properties are examined by a visible HeNe laser and an ultraviolet Hg lamp. We find that their photovoltaic responses are closely related to the oxygen contents in the LaAlO3-δ films. The junction fabricated under the lower oxygen pressure has a higher photovoltaic sensitivity. The possible mechanism is suggested based on the band structure of the p-n heterojunction.

Photon-interactions with perovskite oxides

Photons with variable energy, high coherency, and switchable polarization provide an ideal tool-kits for exploring the cutting-edge scientific questions in the condensed matter physics and material sciences. Over decades, extensive researches in the sample fabrication and excitation have employed the photon as one of the important means to synthesize and explore the low-dimensional quantum materials. In this review, we firstly summarize the recent progresses of the state-of-the-art thin-film deposition methods using excimer pulsed laser, by which syntactic oxides with atomic-unit-cell-thick layers and extremely high crystalline quality can be programmatically fabricated. We demonstrate that the artificially engineered oxide quantum heterostructures exhibit the unexpected physical properties which are absent in their parent forms. Secondly, we highlight the recent work on probing the symmetry breaking at the surface/interface/interior and weak couplings among nanoscale ferroelectric domains using optical second harmonic generation. We clarify the current challenges in the insitu characterizations under the external fields and large-scale imaging using optical second harmonic generation. The improvements in the sample quality and the non-contact detection technique further promote the understanding of the mechanism of the novel properties emerged at the interface and inspire the potential applications, such as the ferroelectric resistive memory and ultrahigh energy storage capacitors.

Two-Dimensional Electron Gas with High Mobility Forming at BaO/SrTiO_(3) Interface

Two-dimensional electron gas(2DEG)with high electron mobility is highly desired to study the emergent properties and to enhance future device performance.Here we report the formation of 2DEG with high mobility at the interface between rock-salt Ba O and perovskite Sr Ti O_(3).The interface consists of the ionically compensated Ba O_(1-δ) layer and the electronically compensated Ti O_(2) layer,which is demonstrated as a perfect interface without lattice mismatch.The so-formed interface features metallic conductivity with ultralow square resistance of7.3×10^(-4)Ω/□at 2 K and high residual resistance ratios R_(300 K)/R_(2 K) up to 4200.The electron mobility reaches69000 cm^(2)·V^(-1)·s^(-1)at 2 K,leading to Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations of resistance.Density functional theory calculations reveal that the effective charge transfers from Ba O to the Ti 3d_(xy) orbital occur at the interface,leading to the conducting Ti O_(2) layer.Our work unravels that Ba O can adapt itself by removing oxygen to minimize the lattice mismatch and to provide substantial carriers to Sr Ti O_(3),which is the key to forming 2DEGs with high mobility at the interfaces.

中子散射在磁性材料研究中的应用

中子具有天然磁矩,穿透能力强且对轻元素敏感等独特的优势,是目前研究材料中磁结构最有力的工具。发展中子散射技术对开发新型磁性材料和研究磁性物理机理等方面具有重大意义。文章介绍了几种常用的中子散射技术(如粉末衍射、小角散射、反射等),并通过典型的实例来说明它们在磁性材料研究中的具体应用。针对国内介绍中子反射技术的资料相对较少,尤其是极化中子反射技术在精确定量表征薄膜磁性大小和分布方面的研究极度匮乏的现状,文章重点介绍了这一特色技术以及应用实例。

Electronic structure evolutions driven by oxygen vacancy in SrCoO3-x films

Ionic defects, such as oxygen vacancies, play a crucial role in the magnetic and electronic states of transition metal oxides. Control of oxygen vacancy is beneficial to the technological applications, such as catalysis and energy conversion. Here, we investigate the electronic structure of SrCoO3-x as a function of oxygen content(x). We found that the hybridization extent between Co 3d and O 2p increased with the reduction of oxygen vacancies. The valence band maximum of SrCoO2.5+δ has a typical O 2p characteristic. With further increasing oxygen content, the Co ions transform from a high spin Co3+ to an intermediate spin Co4+, resulting in a transition of SrCoO3-x from insulator to metal. Our results on the electronic structure evolution with the oxygen vacancies in SrCoO3-x not only illustrate a spin state transition of Co ions,but also indicate a perspective application in catalysis and energy field.