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Amorphous metal oxides with analog resistive switching functions (i.e., continuous controllability of the electrical resistance) are gaining emerging interest due to their neuromorphic functionalities promising for energy efficient electronics. The mechanisms are currently attributed to field-driven migration of the constituent ions, but the applications are being hindered by the limited understanding of the physical mechanisms due to the difficulty in analyzing the causal ion migration, which occurs on a nanometer or even atomic scale. Here, the direct electrical transport measurement of analog resistive switching and angstro''m scale imaging of the causal ion migration is demonstrated in amorphous TaOx (a-TaOx) by conductive atomic force microscopy. Atomically flat thin films of a-TaOx, which is a practical material for commercial resistive random access memory, are fabricated in this study, and the mechanisms of the three known types of analog resistive switching phenomena (current-dependent set, voltage-dependent reset, and time-dependent switching) are directly visualized on the surfaces. The observations indicate that highly analog type of resistive switching can be induced in a-TaOx by inducing the continuous redox reactions for 2.0 < x < 2.5, which are characteristic of a-TaOx. The measurements also demonstrate drastic control of the switching stochasticity, which is attributable to controlled segregation of a metastable a-TaO2 phase. The findings provide direct clues for tuning the analog resistive switching characteristics of amorphous metal oxides and developing new functions for future neuromorphic computing.

Lymphodepleting cytotoxic regimens enhance the antitumor effects of adoptively transferred effector and naive T cells. Although the mechanisms of antitumor immunity augmentation by lymphodepletion have been intensively investigated, the effects of lymphodepletion followed by T cell transfer on immune checkpoints in the tumor microenvironment remain unclear. The current study demonstrated that the expression of immune checkpoint molecules on transferred donor CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was significantly decreased in lymphodepleted tumor-bearing mice. In contrast, lymphodepletion did not reduce immune checkpoint molecule levels on recipient CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Administration of anti-PD-1 antibodies after lymphodepletion and adoptive transfer of T cells significantly inhibited tumor progression. Further analysis revealed that transfer of both donor CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was responsible for the antitumor effects of a combination therapy consisting of lymphodepletion, T cell transfer and anti-PD-1 treatment. Our findings indicate that a possible mechanism underlying the antitumor effects of lymphodepletion followed by T cell transfer is the prevention of donor T cell exhaustion and dysfunction. PD-1 blockade may reinvigorate exhausted recipient T cells and augment the antitumor effects of lymphodepletion and adoptive T cell transfer.

Stable operations as resistive switching memory were demonstrated in amorphous TaOx (a-TaOx) thin films with very flat surfaces by conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM). The a-TaOx thin films fabricated on glass and Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition showed high surface flatness with root-mean-square roughness of less than 0.2 nm. The c-AFM observations on the surfaces revealed that the resistive switching in a-TaOx causes almost no change in the topographic structures, and the significant structural deformation appears after the electrical breakdown by longer-range migration of the constituent ions. The possible mechanisms of the resistive switching phenomena were discussed based on the changes in the topographic structures and conduction states.

Material family of zinc blende structure semiconductors (ZBSSs) is important for novel technique such as spintronics. A study of the ZBSS spin-splitting structure in momentum space is essential when seeking to understand the exotic properties of the material. The Dresselhaus field predominates in the bulk, but the Rashba field plays important roles in states near the surface. Here, we used circular dichroism in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (CD-ARPES) to explore the spin-splitting structure of bulk ZBSS in momentum space. The observed structure was well-explained by a Dresselhaus field attributable to the lack of inversion symmetry in ZBSS crystals. We show that CD-ARPES usefully reveals spin-splitting in momentum space. CD-ARPES combined with hard x-ray incident-beam would be useful to investigate the spin-splitting structures of the interface states in the ZBSS heterostructure.

Background: Although programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors have achieved promising and durable responses in patients with several types of cancer, many patients show intrinsic resistance to PD-1 inhibitors. Extensive studies have demonstrated that immunosuppressive cells are induced in tumor microenvironment and inhibit antitumor effects of PD-1 inhibitors. The aim of current study is to investigate whether nintedanib, which targets multi-tyrosine kinase including vascular endothelial growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, and platelet-derived growth factor, reduced immunosuppressive cells in tumor microenvironment and augments antitumor effects of PD-1 inhibitors. Method: Mice were inoculated subcutaneously with CT26 murine colon carcinoma or MC38 murine colon carcinoma and were treated with nintedanib (50 mg/kg), αPD-1mAbs (10 mg/kg) or nintedanib plus αPD-1mAbs. The tumor size was measured in 2 perpendicular dimensions 3 times per week. Types of cells infiltrating into tumors and immune status of tumor-draining lymph nodes were assessed using flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results: RNA sequencing data revealed that nintedanib decreased gene expression related to endothelial mesenchymal transition, angiogenesis and coagulation. Flow cytometry showed that nintedanib significantly decreased the percentage of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and cancer-associated fibroblast in tumor tissues. Both of flow cytometry and IHC analysis showed that nintedanib significantly increased IFN-ϒ+CD4+ and CD8+ T cells infiltrating in tumors. In addition, nintedanib plus αPD-1mAbs significantly retarded tumor progression. Conclusion: Nintedanib decreased immunosuppressive cells, increased effector T cells, and enhanced anti-tumor effects of αPD-1mAbs. Based on these findings, there are possibility that nintedanib improves clinical outcomes of cancer patients treated with PD-1 inhibitors. Citation Format: Ryo Suzuki, Satoshi Watanabe, Kunihiro Shono, Takaaki Masuda, Tomoki Sekiya, Yuka Goto, Toshiya Fujisaki, Masashi Arita, Aya Ohtsubo, Satoshi Shoji, Tomohiro Tanaka, Koichiro Nozaki, Rie Kondo, Yu Saida, Satoshi Hokari, Riuko Ohashi, Kenjiro Shima, Yosuke Kimura, Nobumasa Aoki, Yasuyoshi Ohshima, Toshiyuki Koya, Toshiaki Kikuchi. Nintedanib enhances antitumor effects of anti-PD-1 therapies through inhibition of immunosuppressive cells in tumor microenvironment. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 5068.

The electronic and atomic structures of topological insulator Bi2Se3, upon Ag atom deposition, have been investigated by combined experimental methods of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), photoelectron spectroscopy, and first-principles calculations. We show from the results of STM that the deposited Ag atoms are stabilized beneath the surface instead of being adsorbed on the topmost surface. We further reveal from the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy that the Bi2Se3(0001) topological surface states stay uninterrupted after a large amount of absorption of Ag atoms. Our analysis of the photoelectron intensity of Ag core states excited by soft X-ray suggests that a large amount of deposited Ag atoms diffused into a deeper place, which is beyond the probing depth of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The first-principles calculations identify the octahedral site in the van der Waals gaps between quintuple layers to be the most favorable locations of Ag atoms beneath the surface, which yields good agreement between the simulated and experimental STM images. These findings pave an efficient way to tailor the local lattice structures of topological insulators without disturbing the topologically nontrivial surface states., This work was partially supported by National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFA0305400). We also acknowledge the financial support by KAKENHI (Grant No. 17H06138, No. 18H03683). The photoemission and STM/STS experiment were performed with the approval of the Proposal Assessing Committee of HSRC (Proposal Nos.11-B-40, 12-B-12), Hiroshima University, Japan. The XPD measurement was conducted at SPring-8 with the approval of the Proposal Assessing Committee of Institute for Solid State Physics, the University of Tokyo (JASRI Proposals Nos. 2012A7427, 2010B7411, 2011A7412, 2011B7421). We thank Dr. Hiroyuki Matsuda for the technical support and instruction during the XPD experiments. The supports by the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (Project No. 2018-CIEN-000025-01), Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Grant No. PID2019-103910GB-I00) and the Saint Petersburg State University grant for scientific investigations (ID No. 51126254) are also acknowledged. DFT calculations of atomic structure carried out by A.G.R. within the Russian Science Foundation Grant No.19-72-30023. A.E. acknowledges the support by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the framework of the Special Priority Program (SPP 1666) ”Topological Insulators”.

Owing to the recent discovery of the current-induced metal-insulator transition and unprecedented electronic properties of the concomitant phases of calcium ruthenate Ca2RuO4, it is emerging as an important material. To further explore the properties, the growth of epitaxial thin films of Ca2RuO4 is receiving more attention, as high current densities can be applied to thin-film samples and the amount can be precisely controlled in an experimental environment. However, it is difficult to grow high-quality thin films of Ca2RuO4 due to the easy formation of the crystal defects originating from the sublimation of RuO4; therefore, the metal-insulator transition of Ca2RuO4 is typically not observed in the thin films. Herein, a stable current-induced metal-insulator transition is achieved in the high-quality thin films of Ca2RuO4 grown by solid-phase epitaxy under high growth temperatures and pressures. In the Ca2RuO4 thin films grown by ex situ annealing at >1200 degrees C and 1.0 atm, continuous changes in the resistance of over 2 orders of magnitude are induced by currents with a precise dependence of the resistance on the current amplitude. A hysteretic, abrupt resistive transition is also observed in the thin films from the resistance-temperature measurements conducted under constant-voltage (variable-current) conditions with controllability of the transition temperature. A clear resistive switching by the current-induced transition is demonstrated in the current-electric-field characteristics, and the switching currents and fields are shown to be very stable. These results represent a significant step toward understanding the high-current-density properties of Ca2RuO4 and the future development of Mott-electronic devices based on electricity-driven transitions.

Owing to the recent discovery of the current-induced metal-insulator transition and unprecedented electronic properties of the concomitant phases of calcium ruthenate Ca2RuO4, it is emerging as an important material. To further explore the properties, the growth of epitaxial thin films of Ca2RuO4 is receiving more attention, as high current densities can be applied to thin-film samples and the amount can be precisely controlled in an experimental environment. However, it is difficult to grow high-quality thin films of Ca2RuO4 due to the easy formation of the crystal defects originating from the sublimation of RuO4; therefore, the metal-insulator transition of Ca2RuO4 is typically not observed in the thin films. Herein, a stable current-induced metal-insulator transition is achieved in the high-quality thin films of Ca2RuO4 grown by solid-phase epitaxy under high growth temperatures and pressures. In the Ca2RuO4 thin films grown by ex situ annealing at >1200 °C and 1.0 atm, continuous changes in the resistance of over 2 orders of magnitude are induced by currents with a precise dependence of the resistance on the current amplitude. A hysteretic, abrupt resistive transition is also observed in the thin films from the resistance-temperature measurements conducted under constant-voltage (variable-current) conditions with controllability of the transition temperature. A clear resistive switching by the current-induced transition is demonstrated in the current-electric-field characteristics, and the switching currents and fields are shown to be very stable. These results represent a significant step toward understanding the high-current-density properties of Ca2RuO4 and the future development of Mott-electronic devices based on electricity-driven transitions.

Dirac materials, which feature Dirac cones in the reciprocal space, have been one of the hottest topics in condensed matter physics in the past decade. To date, 2D and 3D Dirac Fermions have been extensively studied, while their 1D counterparts are rare. Recently, Si nanoribbons (SiNRs), which are composed of alternating pentagonal Si rings, have attracted intensive attention. However, the electronic structure and topological properties of SiNRs are still elusive. Here, by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy measurements, first-principles calculations, and tight-binding model analysis, we demonstrate the existence of 1D Dirac Fermions in SiNRs. Our theoretical analysis shows that the Dirac cones derive from the armchairlike Si chain in the center of the nanoribbon and can be described by the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. These results establish SiNRs as a platform for studying the novel physical properties in 1D Dirac materials., 4 figures

Hybridization of Bogoliubov quasiparticles (BQPs) between the CuO_{2} layers in the triple-layer cuprate high-temperature superconductor Bi_{2}Sr_{2}Cu_{2}Cu_{3}O_{10+δ} is studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). In the superconducting state, an anticrossing gap opens between the outer- and inner-BQP bands, which we attribute primarily to interlayer single-particle hopping with possible contributions from interlayer Cooper pairing. We find that the d-wave superconducting gap of both BQP bands smoothly develops with momentum without an abrupt jump in contrast to a previous ARPES study. Hybridization between the BQPs also gradually increases in going from the off nodal to the antinodal region, which is explained by the momentum dependence of the interlayer single-particle hopping. As possible mechanisms for the enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature, the hybridization between the BQPs as well as the combination of phonon modes of the triple CuO_{2} layers and spin fluctuations represented by a four-well model are discussed.

We report the electronic structure of a natural mineral calaverite AuTe2 under high pressure by means of the infrared spectroscopy. The optical conductivity at ambient pressure shows a Drude respon...

This research is devoted for the synthesis of Fe oxide and Fe nanoparticles (NPs) via, respectively, thermal decomposition of iron(III) oleate and H2 reduction of either iron(III) oleate or iron oxide NPs in a NaCl matrix. Lowering the weight ratios of metal precursor to NaCl and synthesis temperature results in smaller particle sizes. A higher uniformity of Fe NPs can be achieved with a two-step synthesis, that is, thermal decomposition of iron oleate followed by H2 reduction of iron oxides, with the milling of iron oxides and NaCl prior to the reduction step. Fe NPs obtained in this study are stable in the air for long-time storage. It is found that thin oxide and C layers on the particle surface are responsible for their stability.

Photo-excited carriers in Si quantum islands and their surrounded area exhibit interesting features due to electron-hole generation. We show Si single- hole transistor (SHT) characteristics in a Si single-electron transistor (SET) comprising n-type source and drain electrodes under illumination. Holes excited in the Si are expected to flow through the SET island by applying negative gate voltages. Interesting phenomenon is the co-existence of electrons and holes around the island. In a SET, when holes generated by photo-excitation are trapped in the one side (either top or bottom side) of the SET island under the vertical electric field, the SET characteristics are changed depending on the number of trapped holes because effective total number of electrons can be negative. Here, we show the characteristics of photo-excited SETs without strong vertical electric fields.

Lateral heterojunctions of atomically precise graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) hold promise for applications in nanotechnology, yet their charge transport and most of the spectroscopic properties have not been investigated. Here, we synthesize a monolayer of multiple aligned heterojunctions consisting of quasi-metallic and wide-bandgap GNRs, and report characterization by scanning tunneling microscopy, angle-resolved photoemission, Raman spectroscopy, and charge transport. Comprehensive transport measurements as a function of bias and gate voltages, channel length, and temperature reveal that charge transport is dictated by tunneling through the potential barriers formed by wide-bandgap GNR segments. The current-voltage characteristics are in agreement with calculations of tunneling conductance through asymmetric barriers. We fabricate a GNR heterojunctions based sensor and demonstrate greatly improved sensitivity to adsorbates compared to graphene based sensors. This is achieved via modulation of the GNR heterojunction tunneling barriers by adsorbates., Here, the authors characterize the spectroscopic and transport properties of heterojunctions composed of quasi-metallic and semiconducting graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with different widths, showing a predominant quantum tunnelling mechanism. The GNR heterojunctions can also be used to realize adsorbate sensors with high sensitivity.

We investigate the coupled spin and orbital textures of the topological surface state in ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}$(Te,${\mathrm{Se})}_{3}$(0001) across full momentum space using spin- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and relativistic one-step photoemission theory. For an approximately isotropic Fermi surface in ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{2}\mathrm{Se}$, the measured intensity and spin momentum distributions, obtained with linearly polarized light, qualitatively reflect the orbital composition and the orbital-projected in-plane spin polarization, respectively. In ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{3}$, the in-plane lattice potential induces a hexagonal anisotropy of the Fermi surface, which manifests in an out-of-plane photoelectron spin polarization with a strong dependence on light polarization, excitation energy, and crystallographic direction.

Realization of the quantum anomalous Hall effect and axion electrodynamics in topological materials are among the paradigmatic phenomena in condensed matter physics. Recently, signatures of both phases are observed to exist in thin films of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$, a stoichiometric antiferromagnetic topological insulator. Direct evidence of the bulk topological magnetoelectric response in an axion insulator requires an energy gap at its topological surface state (TSS). However, independent spectroscopic experiments revealed that such a surface gap is absent, or much smaller than previously thought, in MnBi$_2$Te$_4$. Here, we utilize angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations to demonstrate that a sizable TSS gap unexpectedly exists in Sb-doped MnBi$_2$Te$_4$. This gap is found to be topologically nontrivial, insensitive to the bulk antiferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition, while enlarges along with increasing Sb concentration. Our work shows that Mn(Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$)$_2$Te$_4$ is a potential platform to observe the key features of the high-temperature axion insulator state, such as the topological magnetoelectric responses and half-integer quantum Hall effects.

The prediction of topological states in rare-earth monopnictide compounds has attracted renewed interest. Extreme magnetoresistance (XMR) has also been observed in several nonmagnetic rare-earth monopnictide compounds. The origin of XMR in these compounds could be attributed to several mechanisms, such as topologically nontrivial electronic structures and electron-hole carrier balance. YBi is a typical rare-earth monopnictide exhibiting XMR and is expected to have a nontrivial electronic structure. In this work, we perform a direct investigation of the electronic structure of YBi by combining angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. Our results show that YBi is topologically trivial without the expected band inversion, and they rule out the topological effect as the cause of XMR in YBi. Furthermore, we directly observed nearly perfect electron-hole compensation in the electronic structure of YBi, which could be the primary mechanism accounting for the XMR.

We have investigated the electronic structure of protect annealed Pr1.3−xLa0.7CexCuO4 (x = 0.05) with small superconducting volume fraction by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (AR...

Cisplatin, one of the most active anticancer agents, is widely used in standard chemotherapy for various cancers. Cisplatin is more poorly tolerated than other chemotherapeutic drugs, and the main dose-limiting toxicity of cisplatin is its nephrotoxicity, which is dose-dependent. Although less toxic methods of cisplatin administration have been established, cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity remains an unsolved problem. Megalin is an endocytic receptor expressed at the apical membrane of proximal tubules. We previously demonstrated that nephrotoxic drugs, including cisplatin, are reabsorbed through megalin and cause proximal tubular cell injury. We further found that cilastatin blocked the binding of cisplatin to megalin in vitro. In this study, we investigated whether cilastatin could reduce cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity without influencing the antitumor effects of cisplatin. Nephrotoxicity was decreased or absent in mice treated with cisplatin and cilastatin, as determined by kidney injury molecule-1 staining and the blood urea nitrogen content. Combined with cilastatin, a twofold dose of cisplatin was used to successfully treat the mice, which enhanced the antitumor effects of cisplatin but reduced its nephrotoxicity. These findings suggest that we can increase the dose of cisplatin when combined with cilastatin and improve the outcome of cancer patients.

The electronic and crystal structures of $({\mathrm{Na}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Ca}}_{x}){\mathrm{Cr}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ have been studied in detail by combining photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The PES results suggest a gap opening at the Fermi level with decreasing temperature and/or increasing the Ca concentration. The XAS spectra at the O $K$-absorption edge suggest a slight increase of the O $2p$--Cr $3d$ hybridization at low temperatures in ${\mathrm{NaCr}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ and ${\mathrm{Na}}_{0.8}{\mathrm{Ca}}_{0.2}{\mathrm{Cr}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$, which corresponds to the appearance of the antiferromagnetic order. However, XRD showed no corresponding structural transition. The experimental results were compared with spin-resolved density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In ${\mathrm{Na}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Ca}}_{x}{\mathrm{Cr}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ the pre-edge intensity of the XAS spectra at the O $K$-absorption edge is strongly suppressed with increasing $x$, in accordance with the gap opening by Ca doping. This observation is consistent with the DFT calculation, where the density of states just above and below the Fermi level diminishes as the electron is doped into ${\mathrm{NaCr}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$.

Artificial lattices provide a tunable platform to realize exotic quantum devices. A well-known example is artificial graphene (AG), in which electrons are confined in honeycomb lattices and behave as massless Dirac fermions. Recently, AG systems have been constructed by manipulating molecules using scanning tunnelling microscope tips, but the nanoscale size typical for these constructed systems are impossible for practical device applications and insufficient for direct investigation of the electronic structures using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of macroscopic AG by self-assembly of C$_{60}$ molecules on metal surfaces. Our theoretical calculations and ARPES measurements directly confirm the existence of Dirac cones at the $K$ ($K^\prime$) points of the Brillouin zone (BZ), in analogy to natural graphene. These results will stimulate ongoing efforts to explore the exotic properties in artificial lattices and provide an important step forward in the realization of novel molecular quantum devices., to appear in Physical Review B

This work reports how a hybridization gap develops at valence-transition temperature of a rare-earth compound. The authors show that the gap increases below the transition temperature, along with an energy shift of electron-like conduction band.

Conventional superconductivity is caused by electron-phonon coupling. The discovery of high-temperature superconductors raised the question of whether such strong electron-phonon coupling is realized in cuprates. Strong coupling with some collective excitation mode has been indicated by a dispersion "kink". However, there is intensive debate regarding whether the relevant coupling mode is a magnetic resonance mode or an oxygen buckling phonon mode. This ambiguity is a consequence of the energy of the main prominent kink. Here, we show a new landscape of dispersion kinks. We report that heavily overdoping a Bi

Single-electron devices (SEDs) composed of nanometer-scale dots have been attracted due to their low-power consumption and high functionality. In this paper, we fabricated double-gate SEDs formed by Fe nanodot array which showed periodic Coulomb blockade oscillation characteristics derived from a single dot. As a result, we confirmed that the charge state of the single dot could be controlled by two gates. In addition, we also found an interesting phenomenon that the two gates, which attached parallel to the nanodot array, unevenly affected the nanodots.

Monolayer AlB$_2$ is composed of two atomic layers: honeycomb borophene and triangular aluminum. In contrast with the bulk phase, monolayer AlB$_2$ is predicted to be a superconductor with a high critical temperature. Here, we demonstrate that monolayer AlB$_2$ can be synthesized on Al(111) via molecular beam epitaxy. Our theoretical calculations revealed that the monolayer AlB$_2$ hosts several Dirac cones along the $\Gamma$--M and $\Gamma$--K directions; these Dirac cones are protected by crystal symmetries and are thus resistant to external perturbations. The extraordinary electronic structure of the monolayer AlB$_2$ was confirmed via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements. These results are likely to stimulate further research interest to explore the exotic properties arising from the interplay of Dirac fermions and superconductivity in two-dimensional materials., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

The emergence of quantization at the nanoscale, the quantum size effect (QSE), allows flexible control of matter and is a rich source of advanced functionalities. A QSE-induced transition into an insulating phase in semimetallic nanofilms was predicted for bismuth a half-century ago and has regained new interest with regard to its surface states exhibiting nontrivial electronic topology. Here, we reveal an unexpected mechanism of the transition by high-resolution angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy combined with theoretical calculations. Anomalous evolution and degeneracy of quantized energy levels indicate that increased Coulomb repulsion from the surface states deforms a quantum confinement potential with decreasing thickness. The potential deformation drastically modulates spatial distributions of quantized wave functions, which leads to acceleration of the transition even beyond the original QSE picture. This discovery establishes a complete picture of the long-discussed problem in bismuth and highlights the new class of size effects dominating nanoscale transport in systems with metallic surface states., 22 pages, 10 figures (Supplementary Information included), accepted for publication in Science Advances