2D Ionic Liquid-Like State of Charged Rare-Earth Clusters on a Metal Surface.

Rare-earth complexes are vital for separation chemistry and useful in many advanced applications including emission and energy upconversion. Here, 2D rare-earth clusters having net charges are formed on a metal surface, enabling investigations of their structural and electronic properties on a one-cluster-at-a-time basis using scanning tunneling microscopy. While these ionic complexes are highly mobile on the surface at ≈100 K, their mobility is greatly reduced at 5 K and reveals stable and self-limiting clusters. In each cluster, a pair of charged rare-earth complexes formed by electrostatic and dispersive interactions act as a basic unit, and the clusters are chiral. Unlike other non-ionic molecular clusters formed on the surfaces, these rare-earth clusters show mechanical stability. Moreover, their high mobility on the surface suggests that they are in a 2D liquid-like state.

Strong Orbital Polarization in a Cobaltate-Titanate Oxide Heterostructure.

Through a combination of experimental measurements and theoretical modeling, we describe a strongly orbital-polarized insulating ground state in an (LaTiO_{3})_{2}/(LaCoO_{3})_{2} oxide heterostructure. X-ray absorption spectra and ab initio calculations show that an electron is transferred from the titanate to the cobaltate layers. The charge transfer, accompanied by a large octahedral distortion, induces a substantial orbital polarization in the cobaltate layer of a size unattainable via epitaxial strain alone. The asymmetry between in-plane and out-of-plane orbital occupancies in the high-spin cobaltate layer is predicted by theory and observed through x-ray linear dichroism experiments. Manipulating orbital configurations using interfacial coupling within heterostructures promises exciting ground-state engineering for realizing new emergent electronic phases in metal oxide superlattices.

Switching Magnetism and Superconductivity with Spin-Polarized Current in Iron-Based Superconductor.

We explore a new mechanism for switching magnetism and superconductivity in a magnetically frustrated iron-based superconductor using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (SPSTM). Our SPSTM study on single-crystal Sr_{2}VO_{3}FeAs shows that a spin-polarized tunneling current can switch the Fe-layer magnetism into a nontrivial C_{4} (2×2) order, which cannot be achieved by thermal excitation with an unpolarized current. Our tunneling spectroscopy study shows that the induced C_{4} (2×2) order has characteristics of plaquette antiferromagnetic order in the Fe layer and strongly suppresses superconductivity. Also, thermal agitation beyond the bulk Fe spin ordering temperature erases the C_{4} state. These results suggest a new possibility of switching local superconductivity by changing the symmetry of magnetic order with spin-polarized and unpolarized tunneling currents in iron-based superconductors.

Correlation of Fe-Based Superconductivity and Electron-Phonon Coupling in an FeAs/Oxide Heterostructure.

Interfacial phonons between iron-based superconductors (FeSCs) and perovskite substrates have received considerable attention due to the possibility of enhancing preexisting superconductivity. Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we studied the correlation between superconductivity and e-ph interaction with interfacial phonons in an iron-based superconductor Sr_{2}VO_{3}FeAs (T_{c}≈33 K) made of alternating FeSC and oxide layers. The quasiparticle interference measurement over regions with systematically different average superconducting gaps due to the e-ph coupling locally modulated by O vacancies in the VO_{2} layer, and supporting self-consistent momentum-dependent Eliashberg calculations provide a unique real-space evidence of the forward-scattering interfacial phonon contribution to the total superconducting pairing.

Action-derived molecular dynamics simulations for the migration and coalescence of vacancies in graphene and carbon nanotubes.

We report the results of action-derived molecular dynamics simulations for the migration and coalescence processes of monovacancies in graphene and carbon nanotubes with different chiralities. In carbon nanotubes, the migration pathways and barriers of a monovacancy depend on the tube chirality, while there is no preferential pathway in graphene due to the lattice symmetry and the absence of the curvature effect. The probable pathway changes from the axial to circumferential direction as the chirality varies from armchair to zigzag. The chirality dependence is attributed to the preferential orientation of the reconstructed bond formed around each vacancy site. It is energetically more favourable for two monovacancies to coalesce into a divacancy via alternative movements rather than simultaneous movements. The energy barriers for coalescence are generally determined by the migration barrier for the monovacancy, although there are some variations due to interactions between two diffusing vacancies. In graphene and armchair nanotubes, two monovacancies prefer to migrate along different zigzag atomic chains rather than a single atomic chain connecting these vacancies. On the other hand, in zigzag tubes, the energy barrier for coalescence increases significantly unless monovacancies lie on the same circumference.

Structure-induced ferromagnetic stabilization in free-standing hexagonal Fe(1.3)Ge nanowires.

Single-crystalline free-standing hexagonal Fe(1.3)Ge nanowires (NWs) are synthesized for the first time using a chemical vapor transport process without using any catalyst. Interestingly, Fe(1.3)Ge NWs are found to be ferromagnetic at room temperature, while bulk Fe(1.3)Ge has the lower critical temperature of 200 K. We perform first-principles density functional calculations and suggest that the observed strong ferromagnetism is attributed to the reduced distances between Fe atoms, increased number of Fe-Fe bonds, and the enhanced Fe magnetic moments. Both experimental and theoretical studies show that the magnetic moments are enhanced in the NWs, as compared to bulk Fe(1.3)Ge. We also modulate the composition ratio of as-grown iron germanide NWs by adjusting experimental conditions. It is shown that uniaxial strain on the hexagonal plane also enhances the ferromagnetic stability.