Aberration-corrected STEM Observations on the Interfacial Structure and Strain Fields of Patterned SrRuO3 Artificial Atoms

Abstract

Artificial atoms (AAs), also known as quantum dots or zero-dimensional electron systems, describe the shell structure of the electron states and their coherency across the material, which mimic the electron states of natural atoms by a coherent many-body wave function with one macroscopic phase [1]. The exotic electronic structure thus leads to fascinating optical, electrical and magnetic properties [2] that have been applied in the fabrication of novel catalytic, electronic, and photonic devices [3]. In addition, their novel strongly correlated electromagnetic properties are very susceptible to the size, geometry, strain and interfacial states [4]. For understanding the underlying physical properties of AAs, nanoscale structural explorations are indispensable.