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Quantum wells created from nanostructured transition metal oxides offer unique possibilities for creating and manipulating quantum states of matter, including novel superconductors, high Curie temperature magnets, controllable metal-insulator transitions, and new topological states. This article explores what is known and conjectured about confined electronic states in oxide quantum wells. Theoretical challenges are reviewed, along with issues arising in the creation of oxide quantum wells. Examples from the current experimental state of the art are summarized, open questions are discussed, and prospects for the future are outlined. The key roles of epitaxial strain and proximity effects are emphasized.
Oxide thin films and interfaces exhibit a variety of novel magnetic phenomena, which are unknown in well-crystallized bulk material. The origin of these phenomena must be sought in the changes in electronic structure due to broken symmetry, strain, and electronic or atomic reconstruction, including oxygen and cation defects. These effects are first discussed in magnetically ordered 3d oxide thin films and heterostructures, wherein a metal-insulator transition up on changing film thickness may influence the magnetism. In heterojunctions, the interface magnetic order can be modified, and exchange bias may appear. A high-temperature ferromagnetic-like response in dilute and undoped oxide films appears to be associated with defects near the substrate interface. A two-dimensional electron gas emerges at interfaces of a polar oxide and SrTiO3, where electronic reconstruction brings electrons into the bottom of the Ti d band; ferromagnetism then emerges as a result of localized or delocalized d states in the presence of atomic defects.
Novel electronic and magnetic phases are being observed at interfaces between insulating, non-magnetic oxide compounds, with the most notable example being the interface between SrTiO3 and LaAlO3. The basic properties of these interfaces will be discussed, as well as prospects for applications and possible future developments.