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Abstract Materials keeping thickness in atomic scale but extending primarily in lateral dimensions offer properties attractive for many emerging applications. However, compared to crystalline counterparts, synthesis of atomically thin films in the highly disordered amorphous form, which avoids nonuniformity and defects associated with grain boundaries, is challenging due to their metastable nature. Here we present a scalable and solution-based strategy to prepare large-area, freestanding quasi-2D amorphous carbon nanomembranes with predominant sp²bonding and thickness down to 1–2 atomic layers, from coal-derived carbon dots as precursors. These atomically thin amorphous carbon films are mechanically strong with modulus of 400 ± 100 GPa and demonstrate robust dielectric properties with high dielectric strength above 20 MV cm⁻¹and low leakage current density below 10⁻⁴ A cm⁻²through a scaled thickness of three-atomic layers. They can be implemented as solution-deposited ultrathin gate dielectrics in transistors or ion-transport media in memristors, enabling exceptional device performance and spatiotemporal uniformity. 

Abstract Experimentally quantifying the viscoplastic rheology of olivine at the high stresses and low temperatures of the shallow lithosphere is challenging due to olivine's propensity to deform by brittle mechanisms at these conditions. In this study, we use microscale uniaxial compression tests to investigate the rheology of an olivine single crystal at room pressure and temperature. Pillars with nominal diameters of 1.25 μm were prepared using a focused ion beam milling technique and were subjected to sustained axial stresses of several gigapascal. The majority of the pillars failed after dwell times ranging from several seconds to a few hours. However, several pillars exhibited clear evidence of plastic deformation without failure after 4–8 hr under load. The corresponding creep strain rates are estimated to be on the order of 10⁻⁶to 10⁻⁷ s⁻¹. The uniaxial stresses required to achieve this deformation (4.1–4.4 GPa) are in excellent agreement with complementary data obtained using nanoindentation techniques. Scanning transmission electron microscopy observations indicate that deformation occurred along amorphous shear bands within the deformed pillars. Electron energy loss spectroscopy measurements revealed that the bands are enriched in Fe and depleted in Mg. We propose that inhomogeneities in the cation distribution in olivine concentrate stress and promote the amorphization of the Fe‐rich regions. The time dependence of catastrophic failure events suggests that the amorphous bands must grow to some critical length scale to generate an unstable defect, such as a shear crack. 

Abstract Interface plays a critical role in determining the physical properties and device performance of heterostructures. Traditionally, lattice mismatch, resulting from the different lattice constants of the heterostructure, can induce epitaxial strain. Over past decades, strain engineering has been demonstrated as a useful strategy to manipulate the functionalities of the interface. However, mismatch of crystal symmetry at the interface is relatively less studied due to the difficulty of atomically structural characterization, particularly for the epitaxy of low symmetry correlated materials on the high symmetry substrates. Overlooking those phenomena restrict the understanding of the intrinsic properties of the as‐ determined heterostructure, resulting in some long‐standing debates including the origin of magnetic and ferroelectric dead layers. Here, perovskite LaCoO₃‐SrTiO₃superlattice (SL) is used as a model system to show that the crystal symmetry effect can be isolated by the existing interface strain. Combining the state‐of‐art diffraction and electron microscopy, it is found that the symmetry mismatch of LaCoO₃‐SrTiO₃SL can be tuned by manipulating the SrTiO₃layer thickness to artificially control the magnetic properties. The work suggests that crystal symmetry mismatch can also be designed and engineered to act as an effective strategy to generate functional properties of perovskite oxides.