journal article·2011-02Open access

Creation and control of a two-dimensional electron liquid at the bare SrTiO3 surface

W. Meevasana, P. D. C. King, R. H. He, S-K. Mo, M. Hashimoto, A. Tamai, P. Songsiriritthigul, F. Baumberger, Z-X. Shen

Nature Materials· Volume 10· Issue 2

Abstract

Many-body interactions in transition-metal oxides give rise to a wide range of functional properties, such as high-temperature superconductivity, colossal magnetoresistance or multiferroicity . The seminal recent discovery of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the interface of the insulating oxides LaAlO(3) and SrTiO(3) (ref. 4) represents an important milestone towards exploiting such properties in all-oxide devices. This conducting interface shows a number of appealing properties, including a high electron mobility, superconductivity and large magnetoresistance, and can be patterned on the few-nanometre length scale. However, the microscopic origin of the interface 2DEG is poorly understood. Here, we show that a similar 2DEG, with an electron density as large as 8×10(13) cm(-2), can be formed at the bare SrTiO(3) surface. Furthermore, we find that the 2DEG density can be controlled through exposure of the surface to intense ultraviolet light. Subsequent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements reveal an unusual coexistence of a light quasiparticle mass and signatures of strong many-body interactions.
Source: europepmc · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Electronic and Structural Properties of Oxides · Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials · Advanced Condensed Matter Physics

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

References (28)

Show source-provided references
1. Bednorz, J. G. & Muller, K. A. Perovskite-type oxides: The new approach to high-Tc superconductivity. Rev. Mod. Phys. 60, 585–600 (1988).10.1103/RevModPhys.60.585 ↗
2. Von Helmolt, R. et al. Giant negative magnetoresistance in perovskitelike La2/3Ba1/3MnOx ferromagnetic films. Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 2331–2333 (1993).10.1103/PhysRevLett.71.2331 ↗
3. Kimura, T. et al. Magnetic control of ferroelectric polarization. Nature 426, 55–58 (2003).10.1038/nature02018 ↗
4. Ohtomo, A. & Hwang, H.. A high-mobility electron gas at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerface. Nature 427, 423–426 (2004).10.1038/nature02308 ↗
5. Takagi, H. & Hwang, H. Y. An emergent change of phase for electronics. Science 327, 1601–1602 (2010).10.1126/science.1182541 ↗
6. Thiel, S. et al. Tunable quasi-two-dimensional electron gases in oxide heterostructures. Science 313, 1942–1945 (2006).10.1126/science.1131091 ↗
7. Reyren, N. et al. Superconducting interfaces between insulating oxides. Science 317, 1196–1199 (2007).10.1126/science.1146006 ↗
8. Brinkman, A. et al. Magnetic effects at the interface between non-magnetic oxides. Nature Mater. 6, 493–496 (2007).10.1038/nmat1931 ↗
9. Cen, C. et al. Nanoscale control of an interfacial metal–insulator transition at room temperature. Nature Mater. 7, 298–302 (2008).10.1038/nmat2136 ↗
10. Mannhart, J. & Scholm, D. G. Oxide interfaces—an opportunity for electronics. Science 327, 1607–1611 (2010).10.1126/science.1181862 ↗
11. Siemons, W. et al. Origin of charge density at LaAlO3 on SrTiO3 heterointerfaces: Possibility of intrinsic doping. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 196802 (2007).10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.196802 ↗
12. Kalabukhov, A. et al. Effect of oxygen vacancies in the SrTiO3 substrate on the electrical properties of the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. Phys. Rev. B 75, 121404(R) (2007).10.1103/PhysRevB.75.121404 ↗
13. Nakagawa, N., Hwang, H. Y. & Muller, D. A. Why some interfaces cannot be sharp. Nature Mater. 5, 204–209 (2006).10.1038/nmat1569 ↗
14. Meevasana, W. et al. Strong energy–momentum dispersion of phonon-dressed carriers in the lightly doped band insulator SrTiO3 . New. J. Phys. 12, 023004 (2010).10.1088/1367-2630/12/2/023004 ↗
15. Kozuka, Y. et al. Optically tuned dimensionality crossover in photocarrier-doped SrTiO3: Onset of weak localization. Phys. Rev. B 76, 085129 (2007).10.1103/PhysRevB.76.085129 ↗
16. Mochizuki, S. et al. Photoluminescence and reversible photo-induced spectral change of SrTiO3 . J. Phys. Condens. Matter 17, 923–948 (2005).10.1088/0953-8984/17/6/011 ↗
17. Aiura, Y. et al. Photoemission study of the metallic state of lightly electron-doped SrTiO3 . Surf. Sci. 515, 61–74 (2002).10.1016/S0039-6028(02)01784-3 ↗
18. Caviglia, A. D. et al. Electric field control of the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface ground state. Nature 456, 624–627 (2008).10.1038/nature07576 ↗
19. Xie, Y. et al. Charge writing at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 surface. Nano Lett. 10, 2588–2591 (2010).10.1021/nl1012695 ↗
20. King, P. D. C., Veal, T. D. & McConville, C. F. Non-parabolic coupled Poisson–Schrodinger solutions for quantized electron accumulation layers: Band bending, charge profile, and subbands at InN surfaces. Phys. Rev. B 77, 125305 (2008).10.1103/PhysRevB.77.125305 ↗
21. Copie, O. et al. Towards two-dimensional metallic behavior at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 216804 (2009).10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.216804 ↗
22. Popović, Z. S., Satpathy, S. & Martin, R. M. Origin of the two-dimensional electron gas carrier density at the LaAlO3 or SrTiO3 interface. Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 256801 (2008).10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.256801 ↗
23. King, P. D. C. et al. Surface electron accumulation and the charge neutrality level in In2O3 . Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 116808 (2008).10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.116808 ↗
24. King, P. D. C. et al. Surface band gap narrowing in quantized electron accumulation layers. Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 256803 (2010).10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.256803 ↗
25. Meevasana, W. et al. Hierarchy of multiple many-body interaction scales in high-temperature superconductors. Phys. Rev. B 75, 174506 (2007).10.1103/PhysRevB.75.174506 ↗
26. Breitschaft, M. et al. Two-dimensional electron liquid state at LaAlO3–SrTiO3 interfaces. Phys. Rev. B 81, 153414 (2010).10.1103/PhysRevB.81.153414 ↗
27. Li, L. et al. Large capacitance enhancement and negative compressibility of two-dimensional electronic systems at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces. Preprint at http://arxiv.org/pdf/1006.2847 (2010).
28. Colakerol, L. et al. Quantized electron accumulation states in indium nitride studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 237601 (2006).10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.237601 ↗