The properties of superconductors at the extreme limits of dimensionality are of fundamental interest. The interface of LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 hosts a quasi-two-dimensional superconductor below Tc≈200 mK. Here we report superconductivity in nanowire-shaped structures created at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface using conductive atomic force microscope lithography. Nanowire cross-sections are small compared to the superconducting coherence length in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (w <<ξSC∼100 nm), placing them in the quasi-1D regime. The ability to “write” fully superconducting nanostructures on an insulating LaAlO3/SrTiO3 “canvas” opens possibilities for the development of new families of superconducting nanoelectronics. Four-terminal transport measurements suggest that in some devices both the normal and superconducting states are confined to a single quantum channel.

Major challenges have emerged as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) move to smaller size and increased integration density, while requiring fast response and large motions. Continued scaling to nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) requires revolutionary advances in actuators, sensors, and transducers. MEMS and NEMS utilizing piezoelectric thin films provide the required large linear forces with fast actuation at small drive voltages. This, in turn, provides accurate displacements at high integration densities, reduces the voltage burden on the integrated control electronics, and decreases NEMS complexity. These advances are enabled by the rapidly growing field of thin-film piezoelectric MEMS, from the development of AlN films for resonator and filter applications, to their implementation in adaptive radio front ends, to the demonstration of large piezoelectricity in epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 and PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3–PbTiO3thin films. Applications of low voltage MEMS/NEMS include transducers for ultrasound medical imaging, robotic insects, inkjet printing, mechanically based logic, and energy harvesting. As described in this article, advances in the field are being driven by and are prompting advances in heterostructure design and theoretical investigations.

In this work, epitaxial (001) BiFeO3 thin films were deposited on SrTiO3 and TbScO3 single-crystal substrates and analyzed with high-resolution x-ray diffraction—reciprocal space mapping. A basic method was developed to extract structural details of the as-grown BiFeO3 film, including (i) epitaxial strain, (ii) ferroelastic domains, and (iii) lattice rotations. After demonstrating the method, extrinsic distortions at vertical twin walls were determined for specific BiFeO3 heterostructures. A relatively large distortion (0.20° ± 0.08°) was measured in a multidomain (12) and incoherent film, while a nearly intrinsic distortion (0.04° ± 0.03°) was measured in a two-domain coherent film. This work offers insights into the structure of multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films with a general approach that is appropriate for low symmetry epitaxial heterostructures.

When an electric field is applied to a ferroelectric the crystal lattice spacing changes as a result of the converse piezoelectric effect. Although the piezoelectric effect and polarization switching have been investigated for decades there has been no direct nanosecond-scale visualization of these phenomena in solid crystalline ferroelectrics. Synchrotron x-rays allow the polarization switching and the crystal lattice distortion to be visualized in space and time on scales of hundreds of nanometers and hundreds of picoseconds using ultrafast x-ray microdiffraction. Here we report the polarization switching visualization and polarization domain wall velocities for Pb(Zr0.45Ti0.55)O3 thin film ferroelectric capacitors studied by time-resolved x-ray microdiffraction.

The evolution of stored ferroelectric polarization in PZT thin film capacitors was imaged using synchrotron x-ray microdiffraction with a submicron-diameter focused incident x-ray beam. To form the capacitors, an epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) thin film was deposited on an epitaxially-grown conductive SrRuO3 (SRO) bottom electrode on a SrTiO3 (STO) (001) substrate. Polycrystalline SRO or Pt top electrodes were prepared by sputter deposition through a shadow mask and subsequent annealing. The intensity of x-ray reflections from the PZT film depended on the local ferroelectric polarization. With 10 keV x-rays, regions of opposite polarization differed in intensity by 26% in our PZT capacitor with an SRO top electrode. Devices with SRO electrodes showed just a 25% decrease in the remnant polarization after 107 switching cycles. In devices with Pt top electrodes, however, the switchable polarization decreased a by 70% after only 5×104 cycles.

The microstrip resonator technique has been applied to study the temperature dependence of the magnetic penetration depth in high quality YBa2Cu3O7−δ thin films. The temperature dependence at low temperatures comes out directly from measured data, with no assumptions about transmission line geometry, dielectric properties, or a model for the temperature dependence of the penetration depth. One can interpret the data in terms of either an exponential decay of λ(T) at low temperatures or as a power law decay. The energy gaps obtained from the exponential decay at low temperature are found to be significantly smaller than weak coupled BCS theory and power-law exponents are in the range of 1.3 to 3.2. These results will be discussed in terms of microscopic theories and the possibility that materials properties dominate the measurement.