Tunneling into a quantum confinement created by a single-step nanolithography of conducting oxide interfaces

A unique nanolithography technique compatible with conducting oxide interfaces, which requires a single lithographic step with no additional amorphous deposition or etching, is presented. It is demonstrated on a ${\mathrm{SrTiO}}₃/{\mathrm{LaAlO}}₃$ interface where a constriction is patterned in the electron liquid. We find that an additional backgating can further confine the electron liquid into an isolated island. Conductance and differential conductance measurements show resonant tunneling through the island. The data at various temperatures and magnetic fields are analyzed and the effective island size is found to be of the order of 10 nm. The magnetic field dependence suggests the absence of spin degeneracy in the island. Our method is suitable for creating superconducting and oxide-interface-based electronic devices.