Peng Wei, Meng Wenjie, Kim Younji, Yoon Jiyong, Si Liang, Zhao Kesen, Dong Shuai, Hou Yubin, Xi Chuanying, Pi Li, Singh Aditya, Sanchez Ana M, Beanland Richard, Noh Tae Won, Lu Qingyou, Lee Daesu, Alexe Marin
Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
Center for Correlated Electron Systems, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul, Korea.
Nat Nanotechnol. 2025 Jun 5. doi: 10.1038/s41565-025-01950-z.
Crystals often have complex structural domains, but a general method to remove or deterministically control such local heterogeneity is lacking. The resulting heterogeneity in crystal orientations obscures our understanding of material properties and can reduce the reliability and performance of related applications. Here, using shear stress from an atomic force microscope tip, we ferroelastically write local crystal orientations in oxide thin films. Applying this deterministic and reversible control to SrRuO and (LaSr)(MnRu)O films, we realize twin-free single crystals and design specific crystal-orientation domain textures at the nanoscale. Furthermore, through magnetoelastic coupling, we can mechanically manipulate the local magnetic anisotropy, and thereby write and erase functional nanoscale magnetic textures unattainable by conventional methods. Thus, pure mechanical force emerges as a means to control structural heterogeneity on demand and may make it possible to program electronic and spintronic functionalities.
晶体通常具有复杂的结构域，但目前缺乏一种去除或确定性控制这种局部异质性的通用方法。晶体取向中产生的异质性模糊了我们对材料特性的理解，并可能降低相关应用的可靠性和性能。在这里，我们利用原子力显微镜探针产生的剪切应力，在氧化物薄膜中铁弹性地写入局部晶体取向。将这种确定性和可逆的控制应用于SrRuO和(LaSr)(MnRu)O薄膜，我们实现了无孪晶的单晶，并在纳米尺度上设计了特定的晶体取向畴纹理。此外，通过磁弹性耦合，我们可以机械地操纵局部磁各向异性，从而写入和擦除传统方法无法实现的功能性纳米尺度磁纹理。因此，纯机械力成为一种按需控制结构异质性的手段，并可能使对电子和自旋电子功能进行编程成为可能。
