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Recently, superconductivity was discovered with a superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of 2 K in strained (110)-oriented RuO2 films grown on TiO2(110) single-crystal substrates. In this work, we predict and realize superconductivity in strained (100)-oriented RuO2 thin films grown on TiO2(100) single-crystal substrates. We show that while density functional theory predicts the Tc of strained RuO2(100) films to be even higher than the RuO2(110) films, our transport and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements find the Tc to be about 1 K in strained RuO2(100) films grown on TiO2(100) substrates. Nonetheless, the thickness dependence of the Tc follows a similar trend in both cases. Our scanning SQUID measurements reveal a local superfluid response, indicating a 100 mK inhomogeneity in Tc over a 100 μm scale. 

The discovery of superconductivity in La3Ni2O7 under pressure has motivated the investigation of a parent spin density wave (SDW) state, which could provide the underlying pairing interaction. Here, we employ resonant soft x-ray scattering and polarimetry on thin films of bilayer La3Ni2O7 to determine that the magnetic structure of the SDW forms unidirectional diagonal spin stripes with moments lying within the NiO2 plane and perpendicular to QSDW, but without evidence of the strong charge disproportionation typically associated with other nickelates. These stripes form anisotropic domains with shorter correlation lengths perpendicular versus parallel to QSDW, revealing nanoscale rotational and translational symmetry breaking analogous to the cuprate and Fe-based superconductors, with possible Bloch-like antiferromagnetic domain walls separating orthogonal domains. 

We demonstrate the epitaxial growth of single-phase (100) BaTiO3 films on (100) β-Ga2O3 substrates at substrate temperatures ranging from 600 to 700 °C using molecular-beam epitaxy. Characterization of a 47 nm thick BaTiO3 film by atomic force microscopy reveals a step-and-terrace morphology with unit-cell-high BaTiO3 steps and an rms surface roughness of 0.26 nm. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images show that in some regions the β-Ga2O3 substrate terminates with a (100)A plane as it transitions to BaTiO3 and in other regions with a (100)B plane. The (100) BaTiO3 films are fully relaxed and consist of a mixture of two types of a-axis domains: a1 and a2. The orientation relationship determined by X-ray diffraction and confirmed by STEM is (100) BaTiO3 || (100) β-Ga2O3 and [011] BaTiO3||[010] β-Ga2O3. Despite the average linear lattice mismatch of 3.8%, BaTiO3 films with rocking curve full width at half maximum widths as narrow as 28 arc sec are achieved. From capacitance–voltage measurements on a metal–oxide–semiconductor capacitor structure with a-axis BaTiO3 as the oxide layer and Si-doped β-Ga2O3 as the semiconducting layer, we extract a dielectric constant of K11 = 670 for the BaTiO3 epitaxially integrated with (100) β-Ga2O3. We anticipate that this high-K epitaxial dielectric will be useful for electric-field management in β-Ga2O3-based device structures. 

We present time-domain THz spectroscopy of thin films of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5. Below the ≈40 K Kondo coherence temperature, a narrow Drude-like peak forms, as a result of the 𝑓-orbital–conduction-electron hybridization and the formation of the heavy-fermion state. The complex optical conductivity is analyzed through a Drude model and extended Drude model analysis. Via the extended Drude model analysis, we measure the frequency-dependent scattering rate (1/𝜏) and effective mass (𝑚*/𝑚𝑏). This scattering rate shows a linear dependence on temperature, which matches the dependence of the resistivity as expected. Nevertheless, the width of the low-frequency Drude peak itself that is set by the renormalized quasiparticle scattering rate (1/𝜏*=𝑚𝑏/𝑚*⁢𝜏) shows a 𝑇^2 dependence. This is the scattering rate that characterizes the relaxation time of the renormalized quasiparticles. This gives evidence for a Fermi liquid state, which in conventional transport experiments is hidden by the strong temperature dependent mass. 

We report a two-step film-growth process using suboxide molecular-beam epitaxy (S-MBE) that produces Si-doped α-Ga2O3 with record transport properties. The method involves growing a relaxed α-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 buffer layer on m-plane sapphire at a relatively high substrate temperature (Tsub), ∼750 °C, followed by an Si-doped α-Ga2O3 overlayer grown at lower Tsub, ∼500 °C. The high Tsub allows the ∼3.6% lattice-mismatched α-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 buffer with x = 0.08 ± 0.02 to remain epitaxial and phase pure during relaxation to form a pseudosubstrate for the overgrowth of α-Ga2O3. The optimal conditions for the subsequent growth of Si-doped α-Ga2O3 by S-MBE are 425 °C ≤ Tsub ≤ 500 °C and P80% O3 = 5 × 10−6 Torr. Si-doped α-Ga2O3 films grown with this method at Tsub > 550 °C are always insulating. Secondary-ion mass spectrometry confirms that both the insulating and conductive films have uniform silicon incorporation. In conductive films with 1019 ≤ NSi ≤ 1020 cm−3, the incorporated silicon is ∼100% electrically active. At NSi ≤ 1019 cm−3, the carrier concentration (n) plummets. A maximum Hall mobility (μ) = 90 cm2V·s at room-temperature is measured in a film with n = 2.9 × 1019 cm−3 and a maximum conductivity (σ) = 650 S/cm at room-temperature in a film with n = 4.8 × 1019 cm−3. A threading dislocation density of (5.6 ± 0.6) × 1010 cm−2 is revealed by scanning transmission electron microscopy, showing that there is still enormous room to improve the electrical properties of doped α-Ga2O3 thin films. 

Pattern formation in spin systems with continuous-rotational symmetry (CRS) provides a powerful platform to study emergent complex magnetic phases and topological defects in condensed-matter physics. However, its understanding and correlation with unconventional magnetic order along with high-resolution nanoscale imaging are challenging. Here, we employ scanning nitrogen vacancy (NV) magnetometry to unveil the morphogenesis of spin cycloids at both the local and global scales within a single ferroelectric domain of (111)-oriented BiFeO₃, which is a noncollinear antiferromagnet, resulting in formation of a glassy labyrinthine pattern. We find that the domains of locally oriented cycloids are interconnected by an array of topological defects and exhibit isotropic energy landscape predicted by first-principles calculations. We propose that the CRS of spin-cycloid propagation directions within the (111) drives the formation of the labyrinthine pattern and the associated topological defects such as antiferromagnetic skyrmions. Unexpectedly, reversing the as-grown ferroelectric polarization from [ $\stackrel{ ¯}{1}$ $\overline{1}$ $\overline{1}$] to [111] produces a noncycloidal NV image contrast which could be attributed to either the emergence of a uniformly magnetized state or a reversal of the cycloid polarity. These findings highlight that (111)-oriented BiFeO₃is not only important for studying the fascinating subject of pattern formation but could also be utilized as an ideal platform for integrating novel topological defects in the field of antiferromagnetic spintronics.