We calculate the mobility of a two-dimensional electron gas residing at the interface of LaAlO$_{3}$/SrTiO$_{3}$ following a three band Boltzmann approach at low temperature, where carrier-charged impurity scattering process is assumed to be dominant. We explain the anisotropic characteristic of the dielectric function, which is a consequence of elliptical bands close to Fermi surface. The screening effect, which weakens the long-range Coulomb interaction of the electron-impurity is considered within the random phase approximation. Working at carrier densities high enough to neglect the spin-orbit induced splitting of the bands, we find that the mobility varies inversely with the cubic power of the carrier density ($n_{2D}^{-3}$) in good agreement with the experimental results. We also investigate the role of variable dielectric constant of SrTiO$_{3}$, the multiband nature of the system and interband interactions in exploring this result.
We study plasmon modes of the two-dimensional electron gas residing at the interface of band insulators $\rm{LaAlO_3}$ and $\rm{SrTiO_3}$ (LAO/STO) and the plasmon excitations of graphene-LAO/STO double layer as well. Considering the electron-electron interaction within random phase approximation, we calculate the plasmon dispersions of both systems numerically and in the long wavelength limit analytical expressions for collective modes are found. One optical mode and two (three) acoustic modes are predicted for the LAO/STO (graphene-LAO/STO) system where only the uppermost acoustic mode of bo…
We present a comprehensive first-principles study of the electronic charge redistribution in atomically sharp LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$(001) heterointerfaces of both n- and p-types allowing for non-stoichiometric composition. Using two different computational methods within the framework of the density functional theory (linear combination of atomic orbitals and plane waves) we demonstrate that conducting properties of LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$(001) heterointerfaces strongly depend on termination of LaAlO$_3$ (001) surface. We argue that both the polar "catastrophe" and the polar distortion scenarios may …
We have investigated the properties of interfaces between LaAlO3 films grown on SrTiO3 substrates singly terminated by TiO2. We used RF sputtering in a high-pressure oxygen atmosphere. The films are smooth, with flat surfaces. Transmission Electron Microscopy shows atomically sharp and continuous interfaces while EELS measurements show some slight intermixing. The elemental ratio of La to Al measured by EDX is found to be 1.07. Importantly, we find these interfaces to be non-conducting, indicating that the sputtered interface is not electronically reconstructed in the way reported for films gr…
Magnetotransport measurements of charge carriers at the interface of a LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructure with 26 unit cells of LaAlO3 show Hall resistance and magnetoresistance which at low and high temperatures is described by a single channel of electron-like charge carriers. At intermediate temperatures, we observe non-linear Hall resistance and positive magnetoresistance, establishing the presence of at least two electron-like channels with significantly different mobilities and carrier concentrations. These channels are separated by 6 meV in energy and their temperature dependent occupation a…
We grow a tiled structure of insulating two dimensional LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces composed of alternating one and three LaAlO3 unit cells. The boundary between two tiles is conducting. At low temperatures this conductance exhibits quantized steps as a function of gate voltage indicative of a one dimensional channel. The step size of half the quantum of conductance is an evidence for absence of spin degeneracy.
A number of recent studies indicate that the charge conduction of the LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface at low temperature is confined to filaments which are linked to structural domain walls in the SrTiO$_3$ with drastic consequences for example for the temperature dependence of local transport properties. We demonstrate that as a consequences of this current carrying filaments on the nano-scale the magnetotransport properties of the interface are highly anisotropic. Our magnetoresistance measurements reveal that the magnetoresistance in different nanostructures ($<500nm$) is random in magnitude …
A two dimensional electronic system with novel electronic properties forms at the interface between the insulators LaAlO$_3$ and SrTiO$_3$. Samples fabricated until now have been found to be either magnetic or superconducting, depending on growth conditions. We combine transport measurements with high-resolution magnetic torque magnetometry and report here evidence of magnetic ordering of the two-dimensional electron liquid at the interface. The magnetic ordering exists from well below the superconducting transition to up to 200 K, and is characterized by an in-plane magnetic moment. Our resul…
Reports of emergent conductivity, superconductivity, and magnetism at oxide interfaces have helped to fuel intense interest in their rich physics and technological potential. Here we employ magnetic force microscopy to search for room-temperature magnetism in the well-studied LaAlO3/SrTiO3 system. Using electrical top gating to deplete electrons from the oxide interface, we directly observe an in-plane ferromagnetic phase with sharply defined domain walls. Itinerant electrons, introduced by a top gate, align antiferromagnetically with the magnetization, at first screening and then destabilizin…
Multiple experiments have observed a sharp transition in the band structure of LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ (001) interfaces as a function of applied gate voltage. This Lifshitz transition, between a single occupied band at low electron density and multiple occupied bands at high density, is remarkable for its abruptness. In this work, we propose a mechanism by which such a transition might happen. We show via numerical modeling that the simultaneous coupling of the dielectric polarization to the interfacial strain ("electrostrictive coupling") and strain gradient ("flexoelectric coupling") generates a…
At the LaAlO$_3$-SrTiO$_3$ interface, electronic phase transitions can be triggered by modulation of the charge carrier density, making this system an excellent prospect for the realization of versatile electronic devices. Here, we report repeatable transistor operation in locally gated LaAlO$_3$-SrTiO$_3$ field-effect devices of which the LaAlO$_3$ dielectric is only four unit cells thin, the critical thickness for conduction at this interface. This extremely thin dielectric allows a very efficient charge modulation of ${\sim}3.2\times10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ within a gate-voltage window of $\pm1$ …
Quantum magnetic oscillations in SrTiO3/\LaAlO3 interface are observed. The evolution of their frequency and amplitude at various gate voltages and temperatures is studied. The data are consistent with the Shubnikov de-Haas theory. The Hall resistivity rho exhibits nonlinearity at low magnetic field. It is fitted assuming multiple carrier contributions. The comparison between the mobile carrier density inferred from the Hall data and the oscillation frequency suggests multiple valley and spin degeneracy. The small amplitude of the oscillations is discussed in the framework of the multiple band…
The widely reported magnetoresistance oscillations in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures have invariably been attributed to the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effect, despite a pronounced inconsistency with low-field Hall resistance measurements. Here we report SdH-like resistance oscillations in quasi-1D electron waveguides created at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface by conductive atomic force microscopy lithography. These oscillations can be directly attributed to magnetic depopulation of magnetoelectric subbands. Our results suggest that the SdH oscillations in 2D SrTiO3-based systems may originate from na…
SrTiO$_3$ is a superconducting semiconductor with a pairing mechanism that is not well understood. SrTiO$_3$ undergoes a ferroelastic transition at $T=$ 105 K, leading to the formation of domains with boundaries that can couple to electronic properties. At two-dimensional SrTiO$_3$ interfaces, the orientation of these ferroelastic domains is known to couple to the electron density, leading to electron-rich regions that favor out-of-plane distortions and electron-poor regions that favor in-plane distortion. Here we show that ferroelastic domain walls support low energy excitations that are anal…
The two dimensional electron gas formed between the two band insulators SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 exhibits a variety of interesting physical properties which make it an appealing material for use in future spintronics and/or quantum computing devices. For this kind of applications electrons have to retain their phase memory for sufficiently long times or length. Using a mesoscopic size device we were able to extract the phase coherence length, and its temperature variation. We find the dephasing rate to have a power law dependence on temperature. The power depends on the temperature range studied and …
This book chapter reviews the experimental evidence for magnetic phenomena at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. We argue that essentially all of the signatures of magnetism can be sorted into two distinct categories: (1) magnetic phases (e.g., ferromagnetic or Kondo) involving local magnetic moments and their coupling to itinerant electrons; (2) metamagnetic effects that are mediated by attractive electron-electron interactions that do not involve local moments. We review possible candidates for the local moments that give rise to the ferromagnetic phases and focus on arguments for one potential so…
The possible existence of short-channel effects in oxide field-effect transistors is investigated by exploring field-effect transistors with various gate lengths fabricated from LaAlO$_3$-SrTiO$_3$ heterostructures. The studies reveal the existence of channel-length modulation and drain-induced barrier lowering for gate lengths below 1 μm, with a characteristic behavior comparable to semiconducting devices. With the fabrication of field-effect transistors with gate lengths as small as 60 nm the results demonstrate the possibility to fabricate by electron-beam lithography functional devices bas…
The emerging field of complex oxide interfaces is generically built on one of the most celebrated substrates - strontium titanate (SrTiO3). This material hosts a range of phenomena, including ferroelasticity, incipient ferroelectricity, and most puzzlingly, contested giant piezoelectricity. Although these properties may markedly influence the oxide interfaces, especially on microscopic length scales, the lack of local probes capable of studying such buried systems has left their effects largely unexplored. Here we use a scanning charge detector - a nanotube single-electron transistor - to noni…
We have measured the electronic structure of the two-dimensional electron system (2DES) found at the Al/SrTiO3 (Al/STO) and LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) interfaces by means of laser angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy, taking advantage of the large photoelectron escape depth at low photon energy to probe these buried interfaces. We demonstrate the possibility of tuning the electronic density in Al/STO by varying the Al layer thickness and show that the electronic structure evolution is well described by self-consistent tight binding supercell calculations, but differs qualitatively from a rig…
Strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the oxide interface $\mathrm{LaAlO_{3}/SrTiO_{3}}$ underlies a variety of exotic physics, but its nature is still under debate. We derive an effective Hamiltonian for the 2DEG at the oxide interface $\mathrm{LaAlO_{3}/SrTiO_{3}}$ and find a different anisotropic Rashba SOC for the $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals. This anisotropic Rashba SOC leads to anisotropic static spin susceptibilities and also distinctive behavior of the spin Hall conductivity. These unique spin responses may be used to determine the natu…
We report frictional drag measurements between two superconducting LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ nanowires. In these experiments, current passing through one nanowire induces a voltage across a nearby electrically isolated nanowire. The frictional drag signal contains both symmetric and antisymmetric components. The antisymmetric component arises from the rectification of quantum shot noise in the drive nanowire by the broken symmetry in the drag nanowire. The symmetric component in the drag resistance is ascribed to rectification of thermal noise in the drive nanowire during superconducting-normal tran…
We report on the transport properties of hybrid devices obtained by depositing graphene on a LaAlO3/SrTiO3 oxide junction hosting a 4 nm-deep two-dimensional electron system. At low graphene-oxide inter-layer bias the two electron systems are electrically isolated, despite their small spatial separation, and very efficient reciprocal gating is shown. A pronounced rectifying behavior is observed for larger bias values and ascribed to the interplay between electrostatic depletion and tunneling across the LaAlO3 barrier. The relevance of these results in the context of strongly-coupled bilayer sy…
Using field effect devices with side gates, we modulate the 2 dimensional electron gas hosted at the LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface to study the temperature and doping evolution of the magnetotransport. The analysis of the data reveals different transport regimes depending on the interplay between the different (elastic, inelastic, and spin-orbit) scattering times and their temperature dependencies. We find that the spin-orbit interaction strongly affects the low temperature transport in the normal state in a very large region of the phase diagram, extending beyond the superconducting dome.
The two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the interface between LaAlO$_3$ (LAO) and SrTiO$_3$ (STO) has become one of the most fascinating and highly-debated oxide systems of recent times. Here we propose that a one-dimensional electron gas (1DEG) can be engineered at the step edges of the LAO/STO interface. These predictions are supported by first principles calculations and electrostatic modeling which elucidate the origin of the 1DEG as an electronic reconstruction to compensate a net surface charge in the step edge. The results suggest a novel route to increasing the functional density in…
A superconducting phase with an extremely low carrier density of the order of 10^13 cm^-2 is present at LaAlO3-SrTiO3 interfaces. If depleted from charge carriers by means of a gate field, this superconducting phase undergoes a transition into a metallic/insulating state that is still characterized by a gap in the spectral density of states. Measuring and analyzing the critical field of this gap, we provide evidence that macroscopically phase-coherent Cooper pairs are present in the metallic/insulating state. This is characterized by fluctuating vortex-antivortex pairs, and not by individual, …
We report Aharonov-Bohm (AB)-type quantum interference in simply-connected devices created at the LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface using conductive-atomic force microscope (c-AFM) lithography. The oscillations are multi-periodic functions of magnetic field strength, and they exhibit a substantial magnetic hysteresis with frequencies that depends on the magnetic sweep direction. The oscillation amplitude for the lowest two frequencies approaches $e^2/h$, consistent with the theoretical maximum for the AB effect, and harmonics up to third order are observable. Broadband quasiperiodic behavior is re…
We demonstrate top-gate tunable Josephson junction like behavior in the two dimensional electron gas at the LaAlO$_3$-SrTiO$_3$ interface. A combination of global back-gating and local top-gating is used to define the junctions, providing an efficient way for much finer spatial control over the properties of the interface, as compared to back-gating alone. The variation of critical currents and zero bias resistances with temperature shows that the junctions behave like short, overdamped weak links. This technique could be an important tool to illuminate the nature of superconductivity in the L…
The electric-field tunable Rashba spin-orbit coupling at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface shows potential applications in spintronic devices. However, different gate dependence of the coupling strength has been reported in experiments. On the theoretical side, it has been predicted that the largest Rashba effect appears at the crossing point of the $d_{xy}$ and $d_{xz,yz}$ bands. In this work, we study the tuneability of the Rashba effect in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 by means of back-gating. The Lifshitz transition was crossed multiple times by tuning the gate voltage so that the Fermi energy is tuned to appro…
The transport and thermoelectric properties of the interface between SrTiO$_3$ and a 26-monolayer thick LaAlO$_3$-layer grown at high oxygen-pressure have been investigated at temperatures from 4.2 K to 100 K and in magnetic fields up to 18 T. For $T>$ 4.2 K, two different electron-like charge carriers originating from two electron channels which contribute to transport are observed. We probe the contributions of a degenerate and a non-degenerate band to the thermoelectric power and develop a consistent model to describe the temperature dependence of the thermoelectric tensor. Anomalies in the…
We describe the transport properties of mesoscopic devices based on the two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) present at the LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface. Bridges with lateral dimensions down to 500~nm were realized using electron beam lithography. Their detailed characterization shows that processing and confinement do not alter the transport parameters of the 2DEG. The devices exhibit superconducting behavior tunable by electric field effect. In the normal state, we measured universal conductance fluctuations, signature of phase-coherent transport in small structures. The achievement of relia…
We examine superconductivity in LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ channels in which the channel width transitions from the 1D to 2D regime. The superconducting critical current is independent of the channel width and increases approximately linearly with the number of parallel channels. Signatures of electron pairing outside of the superconducting phase are also independent of channel width. Collectively, these results indicate that electron pairing and superconductivity exist at the boundary of these channels and are absent within the interior region of the channels. The intrinsic 1D nature of superconduct…
The LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ system exhibits unusual magnetic and superconducting behavior arising from electron-electron interactions whose physical origin is not well understood. Quantum transport techniques, especially those involving mesoscopic geometries, can offer insight into these interactions. Here we report evidence for long-range electron-electron interactions in LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ nanowires, measured through the phenomenon of frictional drag, in which current passing through one nanowire induces a voltage across a nearby electrically isolated nanowire. Frictional drag mediated by the C…
Negative charging energy in LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ quantum dots induced by SrTiO$_3$ polarization
AGH University of Krakow（克拉科夫理工大学）；Technical University of Denmark（丹麦技术大学）；Università degli Studi di Salerno（萨莱诺大学）；CNR-SPIN（意大利国家研究委员会自旋电子学研究所）；ESPCI Paris（巴黎物理化学高等工业学校）；Université PSL（巴黎文理研究大学）；Sorbonne Université（索邦大学）；Laboratoire Albert Fert（阿尔贝·费尔特实验室）；Thales（泰雷兹集团）
The thermoelectric power of the two-dimensional electron system (2DES) at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface is explored below room temperature, in comparison with that of Nb-doped SrTiO3 single crystals. For the interface we find a region below T =50 K where thermopower is dominated by phonon-drag, whose amplitude is hugely amplified with respect to the corresponding bulk value, reaching values ~mV/K and above. The phonon-drag enhancement at the interface is traced back to the tight carrier confinement of the 2DES, and represents a sharp signature of strong electron-acoustic phonon coupling at the i…
We investigate the 2-dimensional Fermi surface of high-mobility LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interfaces using Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. Our analysis of the oscillation pattern underscores the key role played by the Rashba spin-orbit interaction brought about by the breaking of inversion symmetry, as well as the dominant contribution of the heavy $d_{xz}$/$d_{yz}$ orbitals on electrical transport. We furthermore bring into light the complex evolution of the oscillations with the carrier density, which is tuned by the field effect.
The two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface exhibits gate tunable superconductivity with a domelike shape of $T_{\rm{C}}$ as a function of electron concentration. Here, we propose that the experimentally observed behavior can be explained as a direct effect of the dominant $extended$ $s$-$wave$ symmetry of the superconducting gap. Our results agree very well with the experimental data. As shown, neither the correlation effects nor the spin-orbit coupling influence significantly the physical picture of the paired state steaming out from our analysis.
In LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures, a commonly observed but poorly understood phenomenon is that of electron trapping in back-gating experiments. In this work, by combining magnetotransport measurements and self-consistent Schroedinger-Poisson calculations, we obtain an empirical relation between the amount of trapped electrons and the gate voltage. We find that the trapped electrons follow an exponentially decaying spatial distribution away from the interface. However, contrary to earlier observations, we find that the Fermi level remains well within the quantum well. The enhanced trapping of …
The interface between two band insulators LaAlO$_3$ and SrTiO$_3$ exhibits low-temperature superconductivity coexisting with an in-plane ferromagnetic order. We show that topological superconductivity hosting Majorana bound states can be induced at the interface by applying a magnetic field perpendicular to the interface. We find that the dephasing effect of the in-plane magnetization on the topological superconducting state can be overcomed by tuning a gate-voltage. We analyze the vortex-core excitations showing the zero-energy Majorana bound states and the effect of non-magnetic disorder on …
We measure the gate voltage ($V_g$) dependence of the superconducting properties and the spin-orbit interaction in the (111)-oriented LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface. Superconductivity is observed in a dome-shaped region in the carrier density-temperature phase diagram with the maxima of superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ and the upper critical fields lying at the same $V_g$. The spin-orbit interaction determined from the superconducting parameters and confirmed by weak-antilocalization measurements follows the same gate voltage dependence as $T_c$. The correlation between the supercon…
We measured the magnetoresistance of the 2D electron liquid formed at the (111) LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface. The hexagonal symmetry of the interface is manifested in a six-fold crystalline component appearing in the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) and planar Hall data, which agree well with symmetry analysis we performed. The six-fold component increases with carrier concentration, reaching 15% of the total AMR signal. Our results suggest the coupling between higher itinerant electronic bands and the crystal as the origin of this effect and demonstrate that the (111) oxide interface is a…
Pristine, undoped graphene has a constant absorption of 2.3 % across the visible to near-infrared (VIS-NIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Under certain conditions, such as nanostructuring and intense gating, graphene can interact more robustly with VIS-NIR light and exhibit a large nonlinear optical response. Here, we explore the optical properties of graphene/LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ nanostructures, where nanojunctions formed at the LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface enable large (~10$^8$ V/m) electric fields to be applied to graphene over a scale of ~10 nm. Upon illumination with ultrafast V…
High-mobility complex-oxide heterostructures and nanostructures offer new opportunities for extending the paradigm of quantum transport beyond the realm of traditional III-V or carbon-based materials. Recent quantum transport investigations with LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$-based quantum dots have revealed the existence of a strongly correlated phase in which electrons form spin-singlet pairs without becoming superconducting. Here we report evidence for micrometer-scale ballistic transport of electron pairs in quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ nanowire cavities. In the paired phase, …
Transport properties of the complex oxide LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface are investigated under high magnetic field (55T). By rotating the sample with respect to the magnetic field, the two-dimensional nature of charge transport is clearly established. Small oscillations of the agnetoresistance with altered periodicity are observed when plotted versus inverse magnetic field. We attribute this effect to Rashba spin-orbit coupling which remains consistent with large negative magnetoresistance when the field is parallel to the sample plane. A large inconsistency between the carrier density extracted fro…
In this paper we study LaAlO$_3$/Eu$_{1-x}$La$_x$TiO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ structures with nominally x = 0, 0.1 and different thicknesses of the Eu$_{1-x}$La$_x$TiO$_3$ layer. We observe that both systems have many properties similar to previously studied LaAlO$_3$/EuTiO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ and other oxide interfaces, such as the formation of a 2D electron liquid for 1 or 2 unit cells of Eu$_{1-x}$La$_x$TiO$_3$; a metal-insulator transition driven by the thickness increase of Eu$_{1-x}$La$_x$TiO$_3$ layer; the presence of an Anomalous Hall effect (AHE) when driving the systems above the Lifshitz point with …
