Perovskites with the generic composition ABO₃ exhibit an enormous variety of quantum states, such as orbital order, magnetism and superconductivity. Their flexible and comparatively simple structure allows for straightforward chemical substitution and cube-on-cube combination of different compounds in atomically sharp epitaxial heterostructures. Many of the diverse physical properties of perovskites are determined by small deviations from the ideal cubic perovskite structure, which are challenging to control. Here we show that directional imprinting of atomic displacements in the antiferromagnetic Mott insulator YVO₃ can be achieved by depositing epitaxial films on different facets of the same isostructural substrate. These facets were chosen such that other well-known control parameters, including lattice and polarity mismatch with the overlayer, remain nearly unchanged. We observe signatures of staggered orbital and magnetic order and demonstrate distinct spin–orbital ordering patterns on different facets. We attribute these results to the influence of specific octahedral rotation and cation displacement patterns, which are imprinted by the substrate facet, on the covalency of the bonds and the superexchange interactions in YVO₃. Our results show that substrate-induced templating of lattice distortion patterns constitutes a pathway for materials design beyond established strain-engineering strategies.

具有通用成分 ABO₃ 的钙钛矿表现出多种量子态，例如轨道有序、磁性和超导性。它们灵活且相对简单的结构允许在原子尖锐的外延异质结构中直接进行化学取代和不同化合物的立方体对立方体组合。钙钛矿的许多不同物理性质是由与理想立方钙钛矿结构的微小偏差决定的，这很难控制。在这里，我们表明，可以通过在同一等构基板的不同面上沉积外延膜来实现反铁磁 Mott 绝缘体 YVO₃ 中原子位移的定向印记。选择这些面，使得其他众所周知的控制参数（包括晶格和极性与叠加层的不匹配）几乎保持不变。我们观察到交错轨道和磁序的特征，并在不同的面上展示了不同的自旋-轨道排序模式。我们将这些结果归因于由衬底面印记的特定八面体旋转和阳离子位移模式对 YVO₃ 中键的共价和超交换相互作用的影响。我们的结果表明，衬底诱导的晶格畸变图案模板构成了超越既定应变工程策略的材料设计途径。