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Domain walls in ferroelectric oxides provide fertile ground for the development of next-generation nanotechnology. Examples include domain-wall-based memory, memristors, and diodes, where the unusual electronic properties and the quasi-2D nature of the walls are leveraged to emulate the behavior of electronic components at ultra-small length scales. Here, we demonstrate atmosphere-related reversible changes in the electronic conduction at neutral ferroelectric domain walls in Er(Mn,Ti)O$_3$. By exposing the system to reducing and oxidizing conditions, we drive the domain walls from insulating to conducting, and vice versa, translating the environmental changes into current signals. Density functional theory calculations show that the effect is predominately caused by charge carrier density modulations, which arise as oxygen interstitials accumulate at the domain walls. The work introduces an innovative concept for domain-wall based environmental sensors, giving an additional dimension to the field of domain wall nanoelectronics and sensor technology in general.

III-V semiconductor nanowires are considered promising building blocks for advanced photonic devices. One of the key advantages is that the lattice mismatch can easily be accommodated in 1D structures, resulting in superior heteroepitaxial quality compared to thin films. However, few reports break the limitation of using bulk crystalline materials as substrates for epitaxial growth of high-quality photonic 1D components, making monolithic integration of III-V components on arbitrary substrates challenging. In this work, we show that the growth of self-catalyzed GaAsSb nanowires on graphitic substrates can be promoted by creating step edges of monolayer thickness on kish graphite before the growth. By further alternating the deposition sequence of the group-III element Al and the group-V elements As and Sb, it was found that triangular crystallites form when Al is deposited first. This indicates that the surface binding energy between the graphitic surface and the III-V nucleus profoundly influences the epitaxial growth of III-V materials on graphitic surfaces. Using the optimized growth recipe with an AlAsSb buffer nuclei, vertical [111]-oriented GaAsSb/GaAs nanowires with GaAsSb-based multiple axial superlattices were grown on exfoliated graphite, which was attached to a (001) AlAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) using the simple Scotch tape method. Fabry-P\'{e}rot resonance modes were observed under optical excitation at room temperature, indicating a successful monolithic integration with optical feedback from the DBR system. These results demonstrate the great potential for flexible integration of high-efficiency III-V nanowire photonic devices on arbitrary photonic platforms using a 2D material buffer layer, e.g., graphene, without breaking the orientation registry.

Scanning precession electron diffraction (SPED) is a powerful technique for investigating strain. While extensive literature exists analysing strain under high convergence angle conditions there are few systematic studies describing work based around the use of smaller convergence angles despite this being a common set-up. We fill in some of this gap in the literature by providing a workflow for both the experimental and analysis components of such experiments. Our case study investigates strained Gallium Arsenide nanowires with a modern direct electron detector and common microscope alignments. Three peak finding routines are compared and we provide both source code and raw data to allow others to reproduce our findings., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures

Oxide heterostructures exhibit a vast variety of unique physical properties. Examples are unconventional superconductivity in layered nickelates and topological polar order in (PbTiO$_3$)$_n$/(SrTiO$_3$)$_n$ superlattices. Although it is clear that variations in oxygen content are crucial for the electronic correlation phenomena in oxides, it remains a major challenge to quantify their impact. Here, we measure the chemical composition in multiferroic (LuFeO$_3$)$_9$/(LuFe$_2$O$_4$)$_1$ superlattices, revealing a one-to-one correlation between the distribution of oxygen vacancies and the electric and magnetic properties. Using atom probe tomography, we observe oxygen vacancies arranging in a layered three-dimensional structure with a local density on the order of 10$^{14}$ cm$^{-2}$, congruent with the formula-unit-thick ferrimagnetic LuFe$_2$O$_4$ layers. The vacancy order is promoted by the locally reduced formation energy and plays a key role in stabilizing the ferroelectric domains and ferrimagnetism in the LuFeO$_3$ and LuFe$_2$O$_4$ layers, respectively. The results demonstrate the importance of oxygen vacancies for the room-temperature multiferroicity in this system and establish an approach for quantifying the oxygen defects with atomic-scale precision in 3D, giving new opportunities for deterministic defect-enabled property control in oxide heterostructures.

Direct electron detectors in scanning transmission electron microscopy give unprecedented possibilities for structure analysis at the nanoscale. In electronic and quantum materials, this new capability gives access to, for example, emergent chiral structures and symmetry-breaking distortions that underpin functional properties. Quantifying nanoscale structural features with statistical significance, however, is complicated by the subtleties of dynamic diffraction and coexisting contrast mechanisms, which often results in low signal-to-noise and the superposition of multiple signals that are challenging to deconvolute. Here we apply scanning electron diffraction to explore local polar distortions in the uniaxial ferroelectric Er(Mn,Ti)O$_3$. Using a custom-designed convolutional autoencoder with bespoke regularization, we demonstrate that subtle variations in the scattering signatures of ferroelectric domains, domain walls, and vortex textures can readily be disentangled with statistical significance and separated from extrinsic contributions due to, e.g., variations in specimen thickness or bending. The work demonstrates a pathway to quantitatively measure symmetry-breaking distortions across large areas, mapping structural changes at interfaces and topological structures with nanoscale spatial resolution.

Atom probe tomography (APT) is a 3D analysis technique that offers unique chemical accuracy and sensitivity with sub-nanometer spatial resolution. Recently, there is an increasing interest in the application of APT to complex oxides materials, giving new insight into the relation between local variations in chemical composition and emergent physical properties. However, in contrast to the field of metallurgy, where APT is routinely applied to study materials at the atomic level, complex oxides and their specific field evaporation mechanisms are much less explored. Here, we perform APT measurements on the hexagonal manganite ErMnO3 and systematically study the effect of different experimental parameters on the measured composition and atomic structure. We demonstrate that both the mass resolving power (MRP) and compositional accuracy can be improved by increasing the charge-state ratio (CSR) working at low laser energy (< 5 pJ). Furthermore, we observe a substantial preferential retention of Er atoms, which is suppressed at higher CSRs. We explain our findings based on fundamental field evaporation concepts, expanding the knowledge about the impact of key experimental parameters and the field evaporation process in complex oxides in general.

Moir\'e physics plays an important role for the characterization of functional materials and the engineering of physical properties in general, ranging from strain-driven transport phenomena to superconductivity. Here, we report the observation of moir\'e fringes in conductive atomic force microscopy (cAFM) scans gained on the model ferroelectric Er(Mn,Ti)O$_3$. By performing a systematic study of the impact of key experimental parameters on the emergent moir\'e fringes, such as scan angle and pixel density, we demonstrate that the observed fringes arise due to a superposition of the applied raster scanning and sample-intrinsic properties, classifying the measured modulation in conductance as a scanning moir\'e effect. Our findings are important for the investigation of local transport phenomena in moir\'e engineered materials by cAFM, providing a general guideline for distinguishing extrinsic from intrinsic moir\'e effects. Furthermore, the experiments provide a possible pathway for enhancing the sensitivity, pushing the resolution limit of local transport measurements by probing conductance variations at the spatial resolution limit via more long-ranged moir\'e patterns.

Polar discontinuities and structural changes at oxide interfaces can give rise to a large variety of electronic and ionic phenomena. Related effects have been intensively studied in epitaxial systems, including ferroelectric domain walls and interfaces in superlattices. Here, we investigate the relation between polar discontinuities and the local chemistry at grain boundaries in polycrystalline ferroelectric ErMnO3. Using orientation mapping and different scanning probe microscopy techniques, we demonstrate that the polycrystalline material develops charged grain boundaries with enhanced electronic conductance. By performing atom probe tomography measurements, we find an enrichment of erbium and a depletion of oxygen at all grain boundaries. The observed compositional changes translate into a charge that exceeds possible polarization-driven effects, demonstrating that structural phenomena rather than electrostatics determine the local chemical composition and related changes in the electronic transport behavior. The study shows that the charged grain boundaries behave distinctly different from charged domain walls, giving additional opportunities for property engineering at polar oxide interfaces.

The recrystallized grain size and texture in alloys can be controlled via the microchemistry state during thermomechanical processing. The influence of concurrent precipitation on recovery and recrystallization is here analyzed by directly correlating (sub)grains of P, CubeND or Cube orientation with second-phase particles in a cold-rolled and non-isothermally annealed Al-Mn alloy. The recrystallized state is dominated by coarse elongated grains with a strong P, weaker CubeND and even weaker Cube texture. The correlated data enables orientation dependent quantification of the density and size of dispersoids on sub-boundaries and subgrains in the deformation zones around large constituent particles. A new modified expression for the Smith-Zener drag from dispersoids on sub-boundaries is derived and used. The results show that the drag on (sub)grain boundaries from dispersoids is orientation dependent, with Cube subgrains experiencing the highest drag after recovery and partial recrystallization. The often observed size advantage of Cube subgrains in Al alloys is not realized due to the increased drag, thereby promoting particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN). Relatively fewer and larger dispersoids in deformation zones around large particles give a reduced Smith-Zener drag on PSN nuclei, thus further strengthening the effect of PSN. Observations substantiating the stronger P texture compared to the CubeND texture are a higher frequency of P subgrains and a faster growth of these subgrains. The applied methodology enables a better understanding of the mechanisms behind the orientation dependent nucleation and growth behavior during recovery and recrystallization with strong concurrent precipitation in Al-Mn alloys. In particular, the methodology gives new insights into the strong P and CubeND textures compared to the Cube texture.

Correlated analysis of (sub)grains and particles in alloys is important to understand transformation processes and control material properties. A multimodal data fusion workflow directly combining subgrain data from electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and particle data from backscatter electron (BSE) images in the scanning electron microscope is presented. The BSE images provide detection of particles smaller than the applied step size of EBSD down to 0.03 $\mu$m in diameter. The workflow is demonstrated on a cold-rolled and recovered Al-Mn alloy, where constituent particles formed during casting and dispersoids formed during subsequent heating affect recovery and recrystallization upon annealing. The multimodal dataset enables statistical analysis including subgrains surrounding constituent particles and dispersoids' location with respect to subgrain boundaries. Among the subgrains of recrystallization texture, Cube{001}$\left<100\right>$ subgrains experience an increased Smith-Zener drag from dispersoids on their boundaries compared to CubeND{001}$\left<310\right>$ and P{011}$\left<\bar{5}\bar{6}6\right>$ subgrains, with the latter experiencing the lowest drag. Subgrains at constituent particles are observed to have a growth advantage due to a lower dislocation density and higher boundary misorientation angle. The dispersoid size per subgrain boundary length increases as a function of misorientation angle. The workflow should be applicable to other alloy systems where there is a need for analysis correlating grains and grain boundaries with secondary phases smaller than the applied EBSD step size but resolvable by BSE imaging.

Ferroelectric domain walls are quasi-2D systems that show great promise for the development of non-volatile memory, memristor technology and electronic components with ultra-small feature size. Electric fields, for example, can change the domain wall orientation relative to the spontaneous polarization and switch between resistive and conductive states, controlling the electrical current. Being embedded in a 3D material, however, the domain walls are not perfectly flat and can form networks, which leads to complex physical structures. We demonstrate the importance of the nanoscale structure for the emergent transport properties, studying electronic conduction in the 3D network of neutral and charged domain walls in ErMnO$_3$. By combining tomographic microscopy techniques and finite element modelling, we clarify the contribution of domain walls within the bulk and show the significance of curvature effects for the local conduction down to the nanoscale. The findings provide insights into the propagation of electrical currents in domain wall networks, reveal additional degrees of freedom for their control, and provide quantitative guidelines for the design of domain wall based technology.

A small percentage of dopant atoms can completely change the physical properties of the host material. For example, chemical doping controls the electronic transport behavior of semiconductors and gives rise to a wide range of emergent electric and magnetic phenomena in oxides. Imaging of individual dopant atoms in lightly doped systems, however, remains a major challenge, hindering characterization of the site-specific effects and local dopant concentrations that determine the atomic-scale physics. Here, we apply atom-probe tomography (APT) to resolve individual Ti atoms in the narrow band gap semiconductor ErMnO3 with a nominal proportion of 0.04 atomic percent. Our 3D imaging measures the Ti concentration at the unit cell level, providing quantitative information about the dopant distribution within the ErMnO3 crystal lattice. High-resolution APT maps reveal the 3D lattice position of individual Ti atoms, showing that they are located within the Mn layers with no signs of clustering or other chemical inhomogeneities. The 3D atomic-scale visualization of individual dopant atoms provides new opportunities for the study of local structure-property relations in complex oxides, representing an important step toward controlling dopant-driven quantum phenomena in next-generation oxide electronics.

Focused ion beam (FIB) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are used to reversibly switch improper ferroelectric domains in the hexagonal manganite ErMnO$_3$. Surface charging is achieved by local ion (positive charging) and electron (positive and negative charging) irradiation, which allows controlled polarization switching without the need for electrical contacts. Polarization cycling reveals that the domain walls tend to return to the equilibrium configuration obtained in the as-grown state. The electric field response of sub-surface domains is studied by FIB cross-sectioning, revealing the 3D switching behavior. The results clarify how the polarization reversal in hexagonal manganites progresses at the level of domains, resolving both domain wall movements and the nucleation and growth of new domains. Our FIB-SEM based switching approach is applicable to all ferroelectrics where a sufficiently large electric field can be built up via surface charging, facilitating contact-free high-resolution studies of the domain and domain wall response to electric fields in 3D.

Dislocations are one-dimensional (1D) topological line defects where the lattice deviates from the perfect crystal structure. The presence of dislocations transcends condensed matter research and gives rise to a diverse range of emergent phenomena [1-6], ranging from geological effects [7] to light emission from diodes [8]. Despite their ubiquity, to date, the controlled formation of dislocations is usually achieved via strain fields, applied either during growth [9,10] or retrospectively via deformation, e.g., (nano [11-14])-indentation [15]. Here we show how partial dislocations can be induced using local electric fields, altering the structure and electronic response of the material where the field is applied. By combining high-resolution imaging techniques and density functional theory calculations, we directly image these dislocations in the ferroelectric hexagonal manganite Er(Ti,Mn)O3 and study their impact on the local electric transport behaviour. The use of an electric field to induce partial dislocations is a conceptually new approach to the burgeoning field of emergent defect-driven phenomena and enables local property control without the need of external macroscopic strain fields. This control is an important step towards integrating and functionalising dislocations in practical devices for future oxide electronics., Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures

T-(Al20Cu2Mn3) phase dispersoids are important for limiting recovery and controlling grain growth in Al-Cu alloys. However, these dispersoids can also reduce precipitation hardening by acting as heterogeneous nucleation sites and may lead to increased susceptibility towards pitting corrosion when galvanically coupled with S-(Al2CuMg) phase precipitates. The interplay between T- and S-phases is therefore important for understanding their effect on the mechanical and electrochemical properties of Al-Cu-Mg alloys. Here, the crystallographic relationships between the T-phase, S-phase, and surrounding Al matrix were investigated in an Al-1.31Cu-1.14Mg-0.13Ag-0.10Fe-0.28Mn (at.%) alloy by combining scanning precession electron diffraction with misorientation analysis in 3-dimensional axis-angle space and correlated high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Orientation relationships are identified between all three phases, revealing S-T orientation relationships for the first time. Differences in S-Al orientation relationships for precipitates formed at T-phase interfaces compared to their non-interfacial counterparts were also identified. These insights provide a comprehensive assessment of the crystallographic relationships in T-/S-phase aggregates, which may guide future alloy design., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures

This work presents a detailed investigation into the effect of a low Cu addition (0.01 at.%) on precipitation in an Al-0.80Mg-0.85Si alloy during ageing. The precipitate crystal structures were assessed by scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with a novel scanning precession electron diffraction approach, which includes machine learning. The combination of techniques enabled evaluation of the atomic arrangement within individual precipitates, as well as an improved estimate of precipitate phase fractions at each ageing condition, through analysis of a statistically significant number of precipitates. Based on the obtained results, the total amount of solute atoms locked inside precipitates could be approximated. It was shown that even with a Cu content close to impurity levels, the Al-Mg-Si system precipitation was significantly affected with overageing. The principal change was due to a gradually increasing phase fraction of the Cu-containing Q'-phase, which eventually was seen to dominate the precipitate structures. The structural overtake could be explained based on a continuous formation of the thermally stable Q'-phase, with Cu atomic columns incorporating less Cu than what could potentially be accommodated., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables

Semiconductor nanowire lasers can produce guided coherent light emission with miniaturized geometry, bringing about new possibility for a variety of applications including nanophotonic circuits, optical sensing, and on-chip and chip-to-chip optical communications. Here, we report on the realization of single-mode room-temperature lasing from 890 nm to 990 nm utilizing a novel design of single nanowires with GaAsSb-based multiple superlattices as gain medium under optical pumping. The wavelength tunability with comprehensively enhanced lasing performance is shown to result from the unique nanowire structure with efficient gain materials, which delivers a lasing quality factor as high as 1250, a reduced lasing threshold ~ 6 kW cm-2 and a high characteristic temperature ~ 129 K. These results present a major advancement for the design and synthesis of nanowire laser structures, which can pave the way towards future nanoscale integrated optoelectronic systems with stunning performance.