Surfaces of transition-metal compounds: The interplay between structure and functionality

The exotic behavior of correlated electron syste s has boThexcited and challenged aterial scientists for decades. Better experi ental techniques, higher quality sa ples, the discovery of new functional aterials, and a focus on co plexity have all driven the current flurry of activity. This volu e features a series of articles describing the Frontiers of 4d-and 5d-Transtion Metal Oxides. In this article we describe Frontiers of 4d-and 5d-Transition Metal Co pounds (TMCs) in an Environ ent of Broken Sy etry, i.e. a Surface. The unique environ ent of a surface, with its inherently broken translational sy etry, provides an exquisite playground for probing the physics of TMCs. The surface structure, surface property relationship will be de onstrated, where s all structural changes effect physical properties such as the etal-to-insulator transition te perature, the presence of superconductivity, agnetic ordering, electron-phonon coupling, spinphonon coupling, and even quantu critical behavior.