We investigate the effects of two electronic bands at the negative electronic compressibility (NEC) in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). We use a simple homogeneous model with Coulombic interactions and first-order multi-band coupling to examine the role of effective mass and relative permittivity in relation to the critical carrier density, where compressibility turns negative. We demonstrate that the population of a second band, along with the presence of inter-band coupling, can dramatically change the cross-over carrier density. Given the difficulty in determining and confirming multi-band electronic systems, this model provides a potential method for identifying multi-band electronic systems using precise bulk electronic properties measurements. To help illustrate this method, we apply our results to the observed NEC in the 2D electron gas at the interface of LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ (LAO/STO) and determine that, for the known parameters of LAO/STO, the system is likely a realization of a two-band 2D electron gas. Furthermore, we provide general limits on the inter-band coupling with respect to the electronic band population.
Hidden antiferromagnetism on the light-irradiated surface of bulk SrTiO3 and at the LaAlO3_SrTiO3 interfaces
本文研究了SrTiO_3表面受钛光照射时电子的dxz_dyz和dxy谱带性质。最近A. F. Santander-Syro等人[Nature Materials，13，1085（2014）]发现，dxy带实际上包括两个手性分支，其中在不存在磁矩的情况下，带中心处的Kramers简并度升高。从对称性分析的不稳定性可能在费米液体与交换相互作用，我们确定了金属层内状态与具体的反铁磁相，并讨论如果相同的状态实现在导电LaAlO3_SrTiO3接口。
The interplay of electronic reconstructions, lattice distortions, and surface oxygen vacancies in insulator-metal transition of LaAlO$_{3}$/SrTiO$_{3}$
Recently, it was established that a two-dimensional electron system can arise at the interface between two oxide insulators LaAlO3 and SrTiO3. This paradigmatic example exhibits metallic behaviour and magnetic properties between non-magnetic and insulating oxides. Despite a huge amount of theoretical and experimental work a thorough understanding has yet to be achieved. We analyzed the structural deformations of a LaAlO3 (001) slab induced by hydrogen ad-atoms and oxygen vacancies at its surface by means of density functional theory. Moreover, we investigated the influence of surface reconstru…
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…
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…
We report on the discovery and transport study of the superconducting ground state present at the (111)LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface. The superconducting transition is consistent with a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition and its 2D nature is further corroborated by the anisotropy of the critical magnetic field, as calculated by Tinkham. The estimated superconducting layer thickness and coherence length are 10 nm and 60 nm, respectively. The results of this work provide a new platform to clarify the microscopic details of superconductivity at LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interfaces, in particula…
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…
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…
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…
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 …
