Tailoring Lattice and Charge at Complex Oxide Nanostructures and Interfaces

Abstract of the talk

The energy competition of charge itineracy with the strong electron-electron and electron-phonon couplings in strongly correlated oxides make their electronic and magnetic properties highly sensitive to the manipulation of the charge and lattice degrees of freedom. The ability to control these coupling at the nanoscale can often lead to new functionalities that are inaccessible in the bulk form. In this talk, I will discuss how we achieve such controls through rational design of correlated oxide nanostructures and hetero-interfaces. By creating nanoscale periodic depth modulation, we have achieved a 50-fold enhancement of the magnetic crystalline anisotropy in ultrathin colossal magnetoresistive (La,Sr)MnO3, which is attributed to a non-equilibrium strain distribution established in the nanostructures. I will also discuss the complex interplay among epitaxial strain, ferroelectric field effect and interfacial charge transfer in determining the electronic properties of the charge transfer type Mott insulator (Sm,Nd)NiO3. Our work highlights the rich opportunities in both fundamental studies and technological development of complex oxides brought by nanoscale charge and lattice modulation.

Biography of the Speaker

Xia Hong received her B.S. degree from Peking University in 1998 and Ph.D. from Yale University in 2006. Between 2006 and 2010, she worked as a postdoctoral scholar at Pennsylvania State University. She joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in January 2011 as an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016. She received the U.S. National Science Foundation Career Award in 2012 and the Department of Energy Early Career Award in 2016. Her research focuses on the nanofabrication, magnetotransport and scanning probe studies of novel two-dimensional electron systems, epitaxial oxide nanostructures and interfaces.