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Atomic defects underpin the properties of van der Waals materials, and their understanding is essential for advancing quantum and energy technologies. Scanning transmission electron microscopy is a powerful tool for defect identification in atomically thin materials, and extending it to multilayer and beam-sensitive materials would accelerate their exploration. Here, we establish a comprehensive defect library in a bilayer of the magnetic quasi-1D semiconductor CrSBr by combining atomic-resolution imaging, deep learning, and calculations. We apply a custom-developed machine learning work flow to detect, classify, and average point vacancy defects. This classification enables us to uncover several distinct Cr interstitial defect complexes, combined Cr and Br vacancy defect complexes, and lines of vacancy defects that extend over many unit cells. We show that their occurrence is in agreement with our computed structures and binding energy densities, reflecting the intriguing layer interlocked crystal structure of CrSBr. Our calculations show that the interstitial defect complexes give rise to highly localized electronic states. These states are of particular interest due to the reduced electronic dimensionality and magnetic properties of CrSBr and are, furthermore, predicted to be optically active. Our results broaden the scope of defect studies in challenging materials and reveal new defect types in bilayer CrSBr that can be extrapolated to the bulk and to over 20 materials belonging to the same FeOCl structural family. 

We report the synthesis of large-area, high-Ti-content, Mo 1−x Ti x S 2 alloy thin films in the 2H phase at temperature as low as 500 °C using a scalable two-step method of metal film deposition, followed by sulfurization in H 2 S. Film processing at higher temperature accelerates Ti segregation, film coarsening, and the formation of TiS 2 in the 1T phase. Crystal growth at higher temperature results in the formation of multiple binary sulfide phases, in agreement with the equilibrium phase diagram. Making highly metastable, smooth, and uniform single-phase alloy films, therefore, hinges on developing low-temperature processing. Our results are relevant to the development of technologies based on designer transition metal dichalcogenide alloys, including in photonic integrated circuits and gas sensing. 

This work reports a comprehensive investigation of the effect of gallium telluride (GaTe) cell temperature variation (TGaTe) on the morphological, optical, and electrical properties of doped-GaAsSb nanowires (NWs) grown by Ga-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). These studies led to an optimum doping temperature of 550 °C for the growth of tellurium (Te)-doped GaAsSb NWs with the best optoelectronic and structural properties. Te incorporation resulted in a decrease in the aspect ratio of the NWs causing an increase in the Raman LO/TO vibrational mode intensity ratio, large PL emission with an exponential decay tail on the high energy side, promoting tunnel-assisted current conduction in ensemble NWs and significant photocurrent enhancement in the single nanowire. A Schottky barrier photodetector using Te-doped ensemble NWs with broad spectral range and a longer wavelength cutoff at ~ 1.2 µm was demonstrated. These photodetectors exhibited responsivity in the range of 580 – 620 A/W and detectivity of 1.2 – 3.8 × 1012 Jones. The doped GaAsSb NWs have the potential for further improvement, paving the path for high-performance near-infrared (NIR) photodetection applications. 

Abstract At crystalline interfaces where a valence-mismatch exists, electronic, and structural interactions may occur to relieve the polar mismatch, leading to the stabilization of non-bulk-like phases. We show that spontaneous reconstructions at polar La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃interfaces are correlated with suppressed ferromagnetism for film thicknesses on the order of a unit cell. We investigate the structural and magnetic properties of valence-matched La_0.7Sr_0.3CrO₃/La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃interfaces using a combination of high-resolution electron microscopy, first principles theory, synchrotron X-ray scattering and magnetic spectroscopy and temperature-dependent magnetometry. A combination of an antiferromagnetic coupling between the La_0.7Sr_0.3CrO₃and La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃layers and a suppression of interfacial polar distortions are found to result in robust long-range ferromagnetic ordering for ultrathin La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃. These results underscore the critical importance of interfacial structural and magnetic interactions in the design of devices based on two-dimensional oxide magnetic systems.