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Lead-free Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (NBT) exhibiting large polarization and a high Curie temperature can be considered as a promising candidate for dielectric capacitors. The large polarization switching hysteresis and low breakdown field, however, restrict the performance optimization. Herein, epitaxial NBT-based high-entropy Na0.5Bi0.5Ti0.7Hf0.1Zr0.1Sn0.1O3 (NBTHZS) films are designed and prepared by solution-based processing. Compared with the NBT film, the polarization switching hysteresis is depressed and the breakdown field is significantly improved for the NBTHZS film due to the high-entropy effects. Therefore, the NBTHZS film achieves a ∼16 times enhancement of energy density (from 5.1 J/cm3 of the NBT film to 81 J/cm3 of the NBTHZS film) and a high efficiency of 74.1% as well as an excellent performance reliability. The results shed light on enhancing dielectric energy storage properties of NBT-based films by forming high-entropy structures.

Design and realization of high-efficiency p-type thermoelectric materials with excellent performance are the demand for integrated thermoelectric components. Compared with single crystal bulk materials, thermoelectric thin films are more suitable for the miniaturization of thermoelectric devices. Here, c-axis oriented CuRh1− xMg xO2 (x = 0, 0.05, and 0.1) thin films were prepared and the thermoelectric properties are reported. The power factor of a p-type 10% Mg-doped CuRhO2 thin film shows a large value of 535.7 μW K–2 m-1 at 300 K. The results suggest that the hole-doped CuRhO2 thin films can be regarded as potential p-type thermoelectric oxide and will pave an avenue to develop Rh-based thermoelectric thin films.

CaBi2Nb2O9 ceramics were fabricated via the solid-state reaction method by the addition of B2O3 as a sintering aid at lower sintering temperatures than that prepared without B2O3. Ferroelectricity, piezoelectricity, and resistivity can be still greatly enhanced when the sintering temperature is decreased from 1075 °C for CaBi2Nb2O9 to 975 °C for CaBi2Nb2O9–0.25 wt. % B2O3. The high resistivity and weak c-axis texture ensure that the ceramics can be fully polarized in a high enough electric field. The increased spontaneous ferroelectric and remanent polarization result in a significant enhancement in the piezoelectric properties of CaBi2Nb2O9–0.25 wt. % B2O3. The sample sintered at 975 °C possesses a high piezoelectric coefficient d33 of ∼15.0 pC/N and resistivity of 1.4 × 106 Ω cm (at 600 °C) along with a high ferroelectric Curie temperature TC of ∼954 °C. This work is beneficial for the preparation of high-temperature piezoelectric ceramics with excellent electrical properties at a low sintering temperature.

The traditional strategy for transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) follows the path of chemical design by increasing carrier concentrations in insulators through deliberate doping to coordinate the exclusive properties of electrical conductivity with optical transparency. Despite the success of n-type TCOs, the developed p-type TCOs based on chemical design exhibit much lower performance than the n-type counterparts primarily constrained by the hole doping trouble. Recently, the correlated metal of a V2O3 thin film has been reported as high-performance p-type TCOs with high hole concentration (>1022 cm−3). In this paper, we propose an alternative approach of compressive strain in V2O3 thin films toward further increasing the carrier concentration and, consequently, enhancing the performance of p-type TCOs. The compressive strain of the V2O3 thin film is realized by the lattice mismatch between V2O3 and Al2O3. Interestingly, carrier concentrations in strained V2O3 thin films can be increased by several times exceeding 1023 cm−3, which directly correlates with the increase (decrease) in [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) orbital occupation as verified by the Raman spectrum. Meanwhile, the screened plasma energy of a strained V2O3 thin film shifts to ∼1.6 eV, which is less than 1.75 eV to assure the opening of the transparency window in the visible region. As a result, strained V2O3 thin films exhibit enhanced performance as p-type TCOs with relatively high figure of merit. These results indicate that the structural modification can open up an effective approach for increasing the carrier concentration and enhancing the performance of p-type TCOs.

We report a cluster spin glass behavior, multiferroicity and magnetoelectric (ME) effects in the single crystals of 0.46[Formula: see text]-0.54[Formula: see text]. The crystals are found to possess a pseudo-cubic structure with a weak tetragonal distortion and show ferroelectricity at room temperature with a ferroelectric curie temperature of [Formula: see text] K. The cluster spin glass state in the crystal is evidenced by detailed dc and ac magnetic experiments, including thermo-remnant magnetization, aging effect, memory effect, etc. Magnetodielectric effects, poling enhanced magnetism, and electric field induced acceleration of magnetization relaxation in the spin glass state are observed and ascribed mainly to spin-lattice coupling. These results might suggest an effective route to improve ferromagnetism and ME effects by constructing a spin glass state in [Formula: see text]-based antiferromagnetic multiferroics.

We present the superconducting properties and phase compositions of Mg1−xZrxB2 bulk samples fabricated by a solid-state reaction at ambient pressure. It is found that a small amount of Zr atoms may be introduced into the lattice of MgB2, while the majority of them forms ZrB2 phase. The Mg0.9Zr0.1B2 sample shows the highest JC of 2.1×106 A/cm2 in 0.56 T at 5 K and 1.83×106 A/cm2 in self-field at 20 K, higher irreversibility field and larger upper critical field in MgB2 bulk samples. The combination of good grain connection, the reduction of grain size and small ZrB2 particles in the sample may be responsible for the significant enhancement of JC in Zr-doped samples. This technique has a great potential to prepare high performance MgB2 bulk samples and wires on an industrial scale.

Negative thermal expansion (NTE) was investigated for Ga1−xMnxN0.8Mn3 (0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.3). As x increases, the temperature range where lattice contracts upon heating becomes broad and shifts to lower temperatures. The coefficient of linear thermal expansion beyond −40 ppm/K with a temperature interval of ∼50 K was obtained around room temperature in x = 0.2 and 0.25. Local lattice distortion which was thought to be intimately related to NTE is invisible in the X-ray pair distribution function of x = 0.3. Furthermore, a zero-field-cooling exchange bias was observed as a result of competing ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) orders. The concomitant FM order serves as an impediment to the growth of the AFM order, and thus broadens the temperature range of NTE. Our result suggests that NTE can be achieved in antiperovskite manganese nitrides by manipulating the magnetic orders without distorting the local structure.

We presented a systematic study on the photoelectronic properties of the La0.67Ba0.33MnO3 (20 nm)/LaMnO3(t)/SrTiO3:0.05 wt. % Nb (LBMO/LMO(t)/STON) junctions with 0 ≤ t ≤ 30 nm. The short-circuit photocurrent (Iph) is found to show a complex dependence on the LMO buffer layer. It undergoes first a sharp drop as the layer thickness of LMO increases from 0 to 3 nm and then, after a rigid turn, a slow decrease for further increase in layer thickness. These results indicate that the coupling between LBMO and STON can be effectively depressed by a LMO layer of 3 nm. The photocurrent is further found to be temperature dependent, increasing monotonically upon cooling, and the maximal growth, occurring in the junction of t = 3 nm, can be as high as 226% when cooled from 320 K to 40 K. Meanwhile, the Iph-t dependences at different temperatures are similar, which is an indication of temperature independence for the diffusion length of the photocarriers. Analysis of the capacitance-voltage relations indicates that t...

Optical characteristics of high-efficiency violet-blue, blue, and green light emissions in InxGa1−xN quantum well (QW) structures with graded In content are investigated. Appearance of additional higher energy peaks at 410, 429, and 459nm above the main peaks at 430, 463, and 509nm with an effective carrier transfer from the higher to main peak sides is characteristic of these structures with various In contents of x 0.3, respectively. Robust carrier localization by uniform, small-size, and high-density phase segregation plays an important role in maintaining high efficiencies over a wide range of In contents in graded-In-content InGaN QW structures.