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Individual-level interactions shape societal or economic processes, such as infectious diseases spreading, stock prices fluctuating and public opinion shifting. Understanding how the interaction of different individuals affects collective outcomes is more important than ever, as the internet and social media develop. Social networks representing individuals' influence relations play a key role in understanding the connections between individual-level interactions and societal or economic outcomes. Recent research has revealed how the topology of a social network affects collective decision-making in a community. Furthermore, the traits of individuals that determine how they process received information for making decisions also change a community's collective decisions. In this work, we develop stochastic processes to generate networks of individuals with two simple traits: Being a conformist and being an anticonformist. We introduce a novel deterministic voter model for a trait-attributed network, where the individuals make binary choices following simple deterministic rules based on their traits. We show that the simple deterministic rules can drive unpredictable fluctuations of collective decisions which eventually become periodic. We study the effects of network topology and trait distribution on the first passage time for a sequence of collective decisions showing periodicity.

 

Abstract Microstructural analysis of the BaZrO 3 (BZO)/YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 (YBCO) interface has revealed a highly defective and oxygen deficient 2-3 nm thick YBCO column surrounding the BZO one-dimensional artificial pinning centers (1D-APCs). The resulting semi-coherent interface is the consequence of the ∼7.7% BZO/YBCO lattice mismatch and is responsible for the low pinning efficiency of BZO 1D-APCs. Herein, we report an interface engineering approach of dynamic Ca/Cu replacement on YBCO lattice to reduce/eliminate the BZO/YBCO lattice mismatch for improved pinning at a wide angular range of the magnetic field orientation. The Ca/Cu replacement induces a local elongation of the YBCO c-lattice near the BZO/YBCO interface, thereby ensuring a reduction in the BZO/YBCO lattice mismatch to ∼1.4% and a coherent BZO/YBCO interface. This has resulted in enhanced pinning at B//c-axis and a broad angular range of B-field orientation. For example, the 6 vol.% BZO/YBCO film with interface engineering exhibits F p ∼158 GN/m 3 at 65 K and B//c-axis, which is 440% higher than the ∼36.1 GN/m 3 for the reference 6% BZO/YBCO sample, and enhanced J c and F p in a wide angular range up to ∼ 80°. This result illustrates a facile scheme for engineering 1D-APC/YBCO interface to resume the pristine pinning efficiency of the 1D-APCs. 

Abstract One-dimensional c -axis-aligned BaZrO 3 (BZO) nanorods are regarded as strong one-dimensional artificial pinning centers (1D-APCs) in BZO-doped YaBa 2 Cu 3 O 7− x (BZO/YBCO) nanocomposite films. However, a microstructure analysis has revealed a defective, oxygen-deficient YBCO column around the BZO 1D-APCs due to the large lattice mismatch of ∼7.7% between the BZO (3a = 1.26 nm) and YBCO (c = 1.17 nm), which has been blamed for the reduced pinning efficiency of BZO 1D-APCs. Herein, we report a dynamic lattice enlargement approach on the tensile strained YBCO lattice during the BZO 1D-APCs growth to induce c -axis elongation of the YBCO lattice up to 1.26 nm near the BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface via Ca/Cu substitution on single Cu-O planes of YBCO, which prevents the interfacial defect formation by reducing the BZO/YBCO lattice mismatch to ∼1.4%. Specifically, this is achieved by inserting thin Ca 0.3 Y 0.7 Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7− x (CaY-123) spacers as the Ca reservoir in 2–6 vol.% BZO/YBCO nanocomposite multilayer (ML) films. A defect-free, coherent BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface is confirmed in transmission electron microscopy and elemental distribution analyses. Excitingly, up to five-fold enhancement of J c ( B ) at magnetic field B = 9.0 T// c -axis and 65 K–77 K was obtained in the ML samples as compared to their BZO/YBCO single-layer (SL) counterpart’s. This has led to a record high pinning force density F p together with significantly enhanced B max at which F p reaches its maximum value F p,max for BZO 1D-APCs at B // c -axis. At 65 K, the F p,max ∼158 GN m −3 and B max ∼ 8.0 T for the 6% BZO/YBCO ML samples represent a significant enhancement over F p,max ∼ 36.1 GN m −3 and B max ∼ 5.0 T for the 6% BZO/YBCO SL counterparts. This result not only illustrates the critical importance of a coherent BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface in the pinning efficiency, but also provides a facile scheme to achieve such an interface to restore the pristine pinning efficiency of the BZO 1D-APCs. 

Mott insulator VO₂exhibits an ultrafast and reversible semiconductor‐to‐metal transition (SMT) near 340 K (67 °C). In order to fulfill the multifunctional device applications, effective transition temperature (T_c) tuning as well as integrated functionality in VO₂is desired. In this study, multifunctionalities including tailorable SMT characteristics, ferromagnetic (FM) integration, and magneto‐optical (MO) coupling, have been demonstrated via metal/VO₂nanocomposite designs with controlled morphology, i.e., a two‐phase Ni/VO₂pillar‐in‐matrix geometry and a three‐phase Au/Ni/VO₂particle‐in‐matrix geometry. EvidentT_creduction of 20.4 to 54.9 K has been achieved by morphology engineering. Interestingly, the Au/Ni/VO₂film achieves a record‐lowT_cof 295.2 K (22.2 °C), slightly below room temperature (25 °C). The change in film morphology is also correlated with unique property tuning. Highly anisotropic magnetic and optical properties have been demonstrated in Ni/VO₂film, whereas Au/Ni/VO₂film exhibits isotropic properties because of the uniform distribution of Au/Ni nanoparticles. Furthermore, a strong MO coupling with enhanced magnetic coercivity and anisotropy is demonstrated for both films, indicating great potential for optically active property tuning. This demonstration opens exciting opportunities for the VO₂‐based device implementation towards smart windows, next‐generation optical‐coupled switches, and spintronic devices.

 

BaZrO₃(BZO) one-dimensional artificial pinning centers (1D-APCs) aligned along thec-axis of the YBa₂Cu₃O₇(YBCO) have been adopted to enhance the magnetic vortex pinning in BZO/YBCO nanocomposite films. However, the pinning force densityF_pof the BZO 1D-APCs remains moderate at temperatures near 77 K. A hypothesis of the major limiting factor is the defective BZO 1D-APCs/YBCO interface as a direct consequence of the large interfacial strain originated from the BZO/YBCO lattice mismatch of ∼7.7%. Herein, we explore enlarging thec-axis of the YBCO dynamically to reduce the lattice mismatch and hence to prevent formation of the defective BZO 1D-APCs/YBCO interface. Specifically, thec-axis enlargement was achieved by partial replacement of Cu with Ca on the YBCO lattice using strain-directed Ca diffusion into YBCO from two Ca_0.3Y_0.7Ba₂Cu₃O_7−x(CaY-123) spacers of only 10 nm in thickness inserted into the 2 vol% BZO 1D-APC/YBCO nanocomposite thin films of ∼150 nm in total thickness. The achieved elongatedc-axis is attributed to the formation of stacking faults induced by Ca-replacement of Cu on YBCO lattice. The reduced BZO/YBCO lattice mismatch allows formation of a coherent BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface with negligible defects. This leads to an enhancedF_pvalue up to 98 GN m⁻³at 65 K, which is 70% higher than that of the reference 2 vol% BZO 1D-APC/YBCO sample. Furthermore, the benefit of the enhanced pinning of the BZO 1D-APCs with a coherent interface with YBCO can be extended to a large angular range of the magnetic field orientation. This study reveals the significant effect of the BZO/YBCO interface on the pinning efficiency of BZO 1D-APCs and provides a promising approach to achieve a coherent interface in BZO/YBCO nanocomposite films.

 

Sm-doped BiFeO 3 (Bi 0.85 Sm 0.15 FeO 3 , or BSFO) thin films were fabricated on (001) SrTiO 3 (STO) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) over a range of deposition temperatures (600 °C, 640 °C and 670 °C). Detailed analysis of their microstructure via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows the deposition temperature dependence of ferroelectric (FE) and antiferroelectric (AFE) phase formation in BSFO. The Sm dopants are clearly detected by high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (HR-STEM) and prove effective in controlling the ferroelectric properties of BSFO. The BSFO ( T dep = 670 °C) presents larger remnant polarization (Pr) than the other two BSFO ( T dep = 600 °C, 640 °C) and pure BiFeO 3 (BFO) thin films. This study paves a simple way for enhancing the ferroelectric properties of BSFO via deposition temperature and further promoting BFO practical applications.