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Hidden lattice instabilities as origin of the conductive interface between insulating LaAlO3 and SrTiO3.


ABSTRACT: The metallic interface between insulating LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 opens up the field of oxide electronics. With more than a decade of researches on this heterostructure, the origin of the interfacial conductivity, however, remains unsettled. Here we resolve this long-standing puzzle by atomic-scale observation of electron-gas formation for screening hidden lattice instabilities, rejuvenated near the interface by epitaxial strain. Using atomic-resolution imaging and electron spectroscopy, the generally accepted notions of polar catastrophe and cation intermixing for the metallic interface are discounted. Instead, the conductivity onset at the critical thickness of 4-unit cell LaAlO3 on SrTiO3 substrate is accompanied with head-to-head ferroelectric-like polarizations across the interface due to strain-rejuvenated ferroelectric-like instabilities in the materials. The divergent depolarization fields of the head-to-head polarizations cast the interface into an electron reservoir, forming screening electron gas in SrTiO3 with LaAlO3 hosting complementary localized holes. The ferroelectric-like polarizations and electron-hole juxtaposition reveal the cooperative nature of metallic LaAlO3/SrTiO3.

SUBMITTER: Lee PW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5027288 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Hidden lattice instabilities as origin of the conductive interface between insulating LaAlO3 and SrTiO3.

Lee P W PW   Singh V N VN   Guo G Y GY   Liu H-J HJ   Lin J-C JC   Chu Y-H YH   Chen C H CH   Chu M-W MW  

Nature communications 20160914


The metallic interface between insulating LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 opens up the field of oxide electronics. With more than a decade of researches on this heterostructure, the origin of the interfacial conductivity, however, remains unsettled. Here we resolve this long-standing puzzle by atomic-scale observation of electron-gas formation for screening hidden lattice instabilities, rejuvenated near the interface by epitaxial strain. Using atomic-resolution imaging and electron spectroscopy, the generally  ...[more]

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