Dear Colleagues,

Oxides are abundantly found in nature, encompassing insulators, semiconductors, as well as (good and bad) metals. Of these, metallic films are of particular interest. Metallic thin films as electrical conducting layers or contacts are essential components in electronic and spintronic devices. Itinerant electrons in quantum materials interact strongly with lattice, spin, and charge degree of freedom, leading to interesting electrical and magnetic properties and useful functionalities. Epitaxial growth that can control film stoichiometry and thickness, strain, as well as defects serves as a versatile experimental method for engineering material properties. Further, integrating different materials by epitaxial growth could create new physical properties at the boundary of two materials, i.e., at the interface. For instance, superconductivity, ferromagnetism, and high-mobility electron gases have been discovered recently at two-dimensional oxide interfaces.

This Special Issue aims to present a collection of articles describing recent advances in the epitaxial growth of oxide films using various epitaxy techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), pulsed laser deposition (PLD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), and sputtering deposition, and will also provide new results and insights into the physical properties and their application. The topics, with more emphasis on film synthesis and application, cover the theoretical design of novel materials, synthesis and characterization of oxide films, and device development based on metallic thin films.

Dr. Fengmiao Li
Dr. Ronny Sutarto
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• metallic oxide films
• epitaxial growth
• oxide interfaces
• molecular beam epitaxy
• pulsed laser deposition
• atomic layer deposition
• sputtering deposition