Abstract
Interface engineering with an inherent symmetry in magnetic oxides is important both for fundamental science and applications of spintronic devices. However, previous efforts in manipulating inversion symmetry are mainly focused on heterostructures with ideal interfaces which precludes a large group of practically important materials. Here we demonstrate systematically tunable inversion symmetry through dynamically controllable interfacial disorders in the nominal (SrRuO3)2/(SrTiO3)2 superlattice. By controlling the dynamic growth parameter - the pulsed laser ablation frequency, we realized controllable asymmetric Ru/Ti intermixing at the top and bottom interfaces of each supercell. Thus the inversion symmetry is absent at the two interfaces between SrRuO3 and SrTiO3, with the degree of the asymmetry tunable. Moreover, the manipulation of the inversion symmetry induces possible variation to the Berry curvature, with a maximal change of the anomalous Hall resistivity by 1530%. First-principle density functional theory calculations illustrate the strong tendency of Ti/Ru intermixing and enhanced Ti ferromagnetism which both coincide to experimental observations. Our study opens up a new avenue in controlling the inversion symmetry with a broad spectrum of material candidates.
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The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge technical supports from Dr. Fangyuan Zhu, Dr. Jiefeng Cao in XAS/XMCD measurements, Dr. Na Yu in XRD measurements and Dr. Shuaishuai Yin for synchrotron XRD measurements. The work was financially supported by National Key R&D Program of China (Nos. 2023YFA1406301, 2022YFA1403000, 2022YFA1402703), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 12574271, 92365204), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (Nos. 22TS1401200) and Shanghai 2021- Fundamental Research Area (No. 21JC1404700). The research used resources from Center for High-resolution Electron Microscopy (EM02161943) and Analytical Instrumentation Center (#SPST-AIC10112914) in ShanghaiTech University. Part of the calculations was performed at the HPC Platform of ShanghaiTech University Library and Information Services, and the School of Physical Science and Technology.
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X.Z. designed and supervised the project. M.B. prepared the samples and performed the low temperature measurements, with help from Q.W., L.X. and A.Z.; H.Z. performed the STEM-EDS experiments and M.B. analyzed the data, with support from L.C.; G.L. and R.Z. performed the doping stability calculation. S.M. performed the magnetic calculation. The manuscript was written and discussed through contributions of all authors.
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Communications Materials thanks Ryotaro Aso and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.
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Bao, M., Zhu, H., Zhou, R. et al. Continuous manipulation of the interfacial inversion symmetry in SrRuO3/SrTiO3 atomic layer superlattices. Commun Mater (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-026-01141-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-026-01141-w
