Tunable metal-insulator transition in LaTiO3/CaVO3 superlattices:A theoretical study

As one of intriguing physical results of electronic reconstruction,the metal-insulator transition plays an important role in exploring new electronic devices.In this study,the density functional theory is employed to investigate the metal-insulator transition in(LaTiO3)m/(CaVO3)n superlattices.Herein,three kinds of physical avenues,i.e.,stacking orientation,epitaxial strain,and thickness periods,are used to tune the metal-insulator transition.Our calculations find that the[001]-and[110]-oriented(LaTiO3)1/(CaVO3)1 superlattices on SrTiO3 substrate are insulating,while[111]-oriented case is metallic.Such metallic behavior in[111]orientation can also be modulated by epitaxial strain.Besides the structural orientation and strain effect,the highly probable metal-insulator transition is presented in(LaTiO3)m/(CaVO3)n superlattices with increasing thickness.In addition,several interesting physical phenomena have also been revealed,such as selective charge transfer,charge ordering,and orbital ordering.

Manipulating metal-insulator transitions of VO_(2) films via embedding Ag nanonet arrays

Manipulating metal-insulator transitions in strongly correlated materials is of great importance in condensed matter physics,with implications for both fundamental science and technology.Vanadium dioxide(VO_(2)),as an ideal model system,is metallic at high temperatures and shown a typical metal-insulator structural phase transition at 341 K from rutile structure to monoclinic structure.This behavior has been absorbed tons of attention for years.However,how to control this phase transition is still challenging and little studied.Here we demonstrated that to control the Ag nanonet arrays(NAs)in monoclinic VO_(2)(M)could be effective to adjust this metal-insulator transition.With the increase of Ag NAs volume fraction by reducing the template spheres size,the transition temperature(Tc)decreased from 68°C to 51°C.The mechanism of Tc decrease was revealed as:the carrier density increases through the increase of Ag NAs volume fraction,and more free electrons injected into the VO_(2)films induced greater absorption energy at the internal nanometal-semiconductor junction.These results supply a new strategy to control the metal-insulator transitions in VO_(2),which must be instructive for the other strongly correlated materials and important for applications.

Well Dispersed SnO2 Nanoclusters Preparation and Modulation of Metal-Insulator Transition Induced by Ionic Liquid

Tin dioxide (SnO2) has attracted broad interest due to its particular gas-sensor property. Nano- or atom-scale SnO2 material has always been the aim in order to ultimately improve the sensitivity. However, until now, it remains difficult to synthesize SnO2 nanoclusters by using traditional methods. In the present work, we have achieved the preparation of SnO2 nanoclusters by using the cluster beam deposition technique. The obtained nanoclusters were well characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscope HR-TEM. Results indicated the formation of the well-dispersed SnO2 nanoclusters with uniform size distribution (5-7 nm). Furthermore, an obvious metal insulator transition was observed by gating with ionic liquid. Combined with theory calculation, the corresponding mechanism was systematically analyzed from oxygen vacancy induced electron doping.

Carrier-Induced Magnetic Solitons and Metal-Insulator Transition in Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors Ga_1-xMn_xAs

We discuss hole-induced magnetic solitons and metal-insulator transition of transport properties in diluted magnetic semiconductors Ga1-xMnxAs from the standpoint of a field theoretical formulation, and analyze experimental data of transport properties, using the supersymmetry sigma formula and the effective Lagrangian of diffusion model.

Metal-Insulator Transition of Peierls Type in Quasi-One-Dimensional Crystals of TTT₂I₃

We investigate the metal-insulator transition in quasi-one-dimensional organic crystals of tetrathiotetracene-iodide, TTT2I3, in the 2D model. A crystal physical model is applied which takes into account two the most important hole-phonon interaction mechanisms. One is similar to that of deformation potential and the other is of polaron type. The scattering on defects is also considered and it is crucial for the explanation of the transition. The phonon polarization operator and the renormalized phonon spectrum are calculated in the random phase approximation for different temperatures applying the method of Green functions. We show that the transition is of Peierls type. The effect of lattice distortion on the dispersion of renormalized acoustic phonons is analyzed.

Metal-organic decomposition growth of thin film metastable perovskite nickelates with kinetically improved quantum transitions

The multiple quantum transitions within d-band correlation oxides such as rare-earth nickelates(RENiO_(3))triggered by critical temperatures and/or hydrogenation opened up a new paradigm for correlated electronics applications,e.g.ocean electric field sensor,bio-sensor,and neuron synapse logical devices.Nevertheless,these applications are obstructed by the present ineffectiveness in the thin film growth of the metastable RENiO_(3)with flexibly adjustable rare-earth compositions and electronic structures.Herein,we demonstrate a metal-organic decompositions(MOD)approach that can effectively grow metastable RENiO_(3)covering a large variety of the rare-earth composition without introducing any vacuum process.Unlike the previous chemical growths for RENiO_(3)relying on strict interfacial coherency that limit the film thickness,the MOD growth using reactive isooctanoate percussors is tolerant to lattice defects and therefore achieves comparable film thickness to vacuum depositions.Further indicated by positron annihilation spectroscopy,the RENiO_(3)grown by MOD exhibit large amount of lattice defects that improves their hydrogen incorporation amount and electron transfers,as demonstrated by the resonant nuclear reaction analysis and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure analysis.This effectively enlarges the magnitude in the resistance regulations in particular for RENiO_(3)with lighter RE,shedding a light on the extrinsic regulation of the hydrogen induced quantum transitions for correlated oxides semiconductors kinetically via defect engineering.

Phase Transition Behaviour of VO2 Nanorods

The metal-insulator transition （MIT） of VO2 （M） nanorods was studied. It was found that there were two MITs in the differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） curves of the VO2（M） nanorods, one situated at low temperature from -3 ℃ to 19 ℃ and the other was at high temperature of 65-74℃. The low temperature MIT was always accompanied with VO2（B） nanorods, and the high temperature MIT existed singly only in pure VO2（M） nanorods. The mechanisms of these two MITs were analyzed and discussed.

Influence of Doping on the Mott Metal—Insulator Transition in Infinite Dimensions

We have studied the effect of hole-doping on the established scenerio of the first-order Mott metal-insulator transition (MIT) at half-filling using dynamical mean-field theory and exact diagonalization technique. The Mott insulator state is changed into metallic state immediately as holes are doped into the system. The latter is expected to be Fermi liquid. The previously found unanalytical structure of MIT no longer exists for doping as small as 2 percent. We compare our results with that obtained from Gutzwiller approximation.

Fabrication of VO_2 thin film by rapid thermal annealing in oxygen atmosphere and its metal–insulator phase transition properties

Vanadium dioxide thin films have been fabricated through sputtering vanadium thin films and rapid thermal annealing in oxygen. The microstructure and the metal-insulator transition properties of the vanadium dioxide thin films were inves- tigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and a spectrometer. It is found that the preferred orientation of the vanadium dioxide changes from （111） to （011 ） with increasing thickness of the vanadium thin film after rapid thermal annealing. The vanadium dioxide thin films exhibit an obvious metal-insulator transition with increasing temperature, and the phase transition temperature decreases as the film thickness increases. The transition shows hysteretic behaviors, and the hysteresis width decreases as the film thickness increases due to the higher concentration carriers resulted from the uncompleted lattice. The fabrication of vanadium dioxide thin films with higher concentration carriers will facilitate the nature study of the metal-insulator transition.

Metal–insulator transition in few-layered GaTe transistors

Two-dimensional(2D)materials have triggered enormous interest thanks to their interesting properties and potential applications,ranging from nanoelectronics to energy catalysis and biomedicals.In addition to other widely investigated 2D materials,GaTe,a layered material with a direct band gap of^1.7 e V,is of importance for applications such as optoelectronics.However,detailed information on the transport properties of GaTe is yet to be explored,especially at low temperatures.Here,we report on electrical transport measurements on few-layered GaTe field effect transistors(FETs)encapsulated by h-BN at different temperatures.We find that by tuning the carrier density,ambipolar transport was realized in GaTe devices,and an electrical-field-induced metal to insulator transition(MIT)was observed when it was hole doped.The mobilities of GaTe devices show a clear dependence on temperature and increase with the decrease of temperature,reaching^1200 cm2 V-1s-1 at 3 K.Our findings may inspire further electronic studies in devices based on GaTe.

Electron-correlation-induced band renormalization and Mott transition in Ca_(1-x)Sr_xVO_3

We present the local density approximate＋Gutzwiller results for the electronic structure of Cal-xSrxVOa. The substitution of Sr2＋ by Ca2＋ reduces the bandwidth, as the V-O-V bond angle decreases from 180° for SrVO3 to about 160° for CaVO3. However, we find that the bandwidth decrease induced by the V-O-V bond angle decrease is smaller as compared to that induced by electron correlation. In correlated electron systems, such as Cal-=Sr=VOa, the correlation effect of 3d electrons plays a leading role in determining the bandwidth. The electron correlation effect and crystal field splitting collaboratively determine whether the compounds will be in a metal state or in a Mort-insulator phase.

Polarization-dependent photoinduced metal–insulator transitions in manganites

In correlated oxides,collaborative manipulation on light intensity,wavelength,pulse duration and polarization has yielded many exotic discoveries,such as phase transitions and novel quantum states.In view of potential optoelectronic applications,tailoring long-lived static properties by light-induced effects is highly desirable.So far,the polarization state of light has rarely been reported as a control parameter for this purpose.Here,we report polarization-dependent metal-to-insulator transition(MIT)in phaseseparated manganite thin films,introducing a new degree of freedom to control static MIT.Specifically,we observed giant photoinduced resistance jumps with striking features:(1)a single resistance jump occurs upon a linearly polarized light incident with a chosen polarization angle,and a second resistance jump occurs when the polarization angle changes;(2)the amplitude of the second resistance jump depends sensitively on the actual change of the polarization angles.Linear transmittance measurements reveal that the origin of the above phenomena is closely related to the coexistence of anisotropic micro-domains.Our results represent a first step to utilize light polarization as an active knob to manipulate static phase transitions,pointing towards new pathways for nonvolatile optoelectronic devices and sensors.

Hidden metal-insulator transition in manganites synthesized via a controllable oxidation

Oxygen usually plays crucial roles in tuning the phase structures and functionalities of complex oxides such as high temperature superconductivity, colossal magnetoresistance, catalysis, etc. Effective and considerable control of the oxygen content in those functional oxides could be highly desired. Here, using perovskite manganite(La0.5Sr0.5)MnO3 as a paradigm, we develop a new pathway to synthesize the epitaxial thin films assisted by an in-situ chemical process, where the oxygen content can be precisely controlled by varying oxidative activity tuned by the atmospheric temperature(Tatm)during the growth. A hidden metal-insulator transition(MIT)emerges due to the phase competition, which is never shown in the phase diagram of this classic manganite. The oxygenmediated interaction between Mn ions together with the change of carrier density might be responsible for this emerging phase, which is compatible with the results of firstprinciple calculations. This work demonstrates that, apart from traditional cation doping, a precise modulation of anion(O2-, S2-, etc.) may provide a new strategy to control phase structures and functionalities of epitaxial compound thin films.

Magnetic-field-induced metal-insulator quantum phase transition in CaFeAsF near the quantum limit

The quantum limit, where only the lowest Landau level is occupied by electrons, can be achieved under a high magnetic field when the Landau level splitting is comparable with the Fermi energy. The rather small Fermi pockets and Fermi energy in CaFeAsF reported recently make this compound a good candidate for investigating the electrical transport near the quantum limit.Here, we report high-field experiments up to 65 T on a single-crystalline CaFeAsF, which shows a metal-insulator quantum phase transition tuned by the out-of-plane magnetic field. The obtained critical exponent zν through the finite-size scaling analysis is very close to 4/3. This transition is closely associated with the evolution of electronic states approaching the quantum limit.The resistivity behaviors as a function of field and temperature were evaluated based on Adams-Holstein theory(A-H theory).Moreover, the in-plane component of the field, which does not affect the transport behavior in the classical region, suppressed the magnetoresistance near the quantum limit.

Significant control of metal-insulator transition temperature through catalytic excessive oxygen doping in high-performance vanadium dioxide nanobeam channel

The strategy of a reliable transition temperature control of vanadium dioxide(VO2)is reported.Rectangular VO2 nanobeams were synthesized by a thermal chemical vapor deposition(TCVD)system.The metal-insulator transition(MIT)temperature increases to above 380K when the TiO2 ratio of the source is 5 at.%,although the Ti source is not physically doped into VO2 nanobeams.The XPS spectra of the V 2p orbital reveal the excessive oxidation of V after the TCVD processes with a higher TiO2 ratio,indicating that the TiO2 precursor is important in the O-doping of the surface V O bonds when forming volatile Ti-O gas species.Thus,TiO2 reactants can be used as a VO2 surface chemical modifier to manipulate the MIT transition temperature and maintain a homogenous VO2 phase,which is useful for a Mott device application with a record on/off switching ratio>104 and Mott transition temperature>380 K.

Direct visualization of percolating metal-insulator transition in V_(2)O_(3) using scanning microwave impedance microscopy

Using the extensively studied V_(2)O_(3) as a prototype system, we investigate the role of percolation in metal-insulator transition(MIT). We apply scanning microwave impedance microscopy to directly determine the metallic phase fraction p and relate it to the macroscopic conductance G, which shows a sudden jump when p reaches the percolation threshold. Interestingly, the conductance G exhibits a hysteretic behavior against p, suggesting two different percolating processes upon cooling and warming. Based on our image analysis and model simulation, we ascribe such hysteretic behavior to different domain nucleation and growth processes between cooling and warming, which is likely caused by the decoupled structural and electronic transitions in V_(2)O_(3) during MIT. Our work provides a microscopic view of how the interplay of structural and electronic degrees of freedom affects MIT in strongly correlated systems.

Reversible optical control of the metal-insulator transition across the epitaxial heterointerface of a VO_(2)/Nb:TiO_(2) junction

Optical control of exotic properties in strongly correlated electron materials is very attractive owing to their potential applications in optical and electronic devices.Herein,we demonstrate a vertical heterojunction made of a correlated electron oxide thin film VO_(2) and a conductive 0.05 wt% Nb-doped TiO_(2) single crystal,whose metal-insulator transition(MIT)across the nanoscale heterointerface can be efficiently modulated by visible light irradiation.The magnitude of the MIT decreases from ~350 in the dark state to ~7 in the illuminated state,obeying a power law with respect to the light power density.The junction resistance is switched in a reversible and synchronous manner by turning light on and off.The optical tunability of it is also exponentially proportional to the light power density,and a 320-fold on/off ratio is achieved with an irradiance of 65.6 mW cm^(-2) below the MIT temperature.While the VO_(2) thin film is metallic above the MIT temperature,the optical tunability is remarkably weakened,with a one-fold change remaining under light illumination.These results are co-attributed to a net reduction(~15 meV)in the apparent barrier height and the photocarrier-injection-induced metallization of the VO_(2) heterointerface through a photovoltaic effect,which is induced by deep defect level transition upon the visible light irradiance at low temperature.Additionally,the optical tunability is minimal,resulting from the quite weak modulation of the already metallic band structure in the Schottky-type junction above the MIT temperature.This work enables a remotely optical scheme to manipulate the MIT,implying potential uncooled photodetection and photoswitch applications.

Insulator-to-metal transition in RCoO_(3)(R=Pr,Nd)

We report a straightforward tool to investigate insulator-metal transition in RCoO_(3)(R=Pr,and Nd)nanoparticles prepared by a sol-gel technique.Thermogravimetric analysis(TGA)of the as-prepared gel is performed to get the lowest possible calcination temperature of RCoO_(3)nanoparticles.The Rietveld refinement of the powder X-ray diffraction(XRD)patterns for both samples shows that the samples crystallize in the orthorhombic(Pnma)phase at room temperature.The particle size of the sample is determined by scanning electron microscopy.Ac conductivity of the materials is analyzed in the temperature range from 303 K to 673 K and in the frequency range from 42 Hz to 1.1 MHz.The insulator-to-metal transition of PrCoO_(3)and NdCoO_(3)is analyzed by ac impedance spectroscopy.DC resistivity measurement is also done to cross check the insulator-metal transition in RCoO_(3)system.

Single crystal growth and electronic structure of Rh-doped Sr_(3)Ir_(2)O_(7)

Ruddlesden-Popper iridate Sr_(3)Ir_(2)O_(7)is a spin-orbit coupled Mott insulator.Hole doped Sr_(3)Ir_(2)O_(7)provides an ideal platform to study the exotic quantum phenomena that occur near the metal-insulator transition(MIT)region.Rh substitution of Ir is an effective method to induce hole doping into Sr_(3)Ir_(2)O_(7).However,the highest doping level reported in Sr_(3)(Ir_(1-x)Rh_(x))_(2)O_(7)single crystals was only around 3%,which is far from the MIT region.In this paper,we report the successful growth of single crystals of Sr3(Ir_(1-x)Rh_(x))_(2)O_(7)with a doping level of~9%.The samples have been fully characterized,demonstrating the high quality of the single crystals.Transport measurements have been carried out,confirming the tendency of MIT in these samples.The electronic structure has also been examined by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy(ARPES)measurements.Our results establish a platform to investigate the heavily hole doped Sr_(3)Ir_(2)O_(7) compound,which also provide new insights into the MIT with hole doping in this material system.

纳米受限水的研究进展

水是生命之源,在人类生存和社会生产中扮演了极其重要的角色,然而水的反常性质及在物理、化学、生物过程等领域中的作用和机理却仍存在很多谜团。近年来,水科学研究已逐渐成为科学研究的热点之一。地球上的水大部分是体相水,但在自然界和科学研究中,水同样会以界面/受限水的形式参与到物理、化学过程中。纳米受限水普遍存在于自然及合成的纳米环境中,受限水与体相水的差异主要体现在水的动力学及热力学性质的改变,受限水的存在对材料在生物、环境、地质和传感器等领域的应用也具有深远的影响。本文对纳米受限水的结构进行分析,并归纳了纳米受限水的动力学、热力学以及电学特性,对纳米受限水的研究手段及发展历程进行分类总结,举例介绍了纳米受限水在环境和能源等领域的潜在应用,最后对受限水研究进展及存在问题进行了总结,并对其后续发展进行展望。