Locally enhanced conductivity due to the tetragonal domain structure in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaces

Beena Kalisky; Eric M. Spanton; Hilary Noad; John R. Kirtley; Katja C. Nowack; Christopher Bell; Hiroki K. Sato; Masayuki Hosoda; Yanwu Xie; Yasuyuki Hikita; Carsten Woltmann; Georg Pfanzelt; Rainer Jany; Christoph Richter; Harold Y. Hwang; Jochen Mannhart; Kathryn A. Moler; Chris Bell

doi:10.1038/NMAT3753

Locally enhanced conductivity due to the tetragonal domain structure in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaces

Beena Kalisky^*, Eric M. Spanton, Hilary Noad, John R. Kirtley, Katja C. Nowack, Christopher Bell, Hiroki K. Sato, Masayuki Hosoda, Yanwu Xie, Yasuyuki Hikita, Carsten Woltmann, Georg Pfanzelt, Rainer Jany, Christoph Richter, Harold Y. Hwang, Jochen Mannhart, Kathryn A. Moler, Chris Bell

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

172 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The ability to control materials properties through interface engineering is demonstrated by the appearance of conductivity at the interface of certain insulators, most famously the {001} interface of the band insulators LaAlO3 and TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 (STO; refs 1,2). Transport and other measurements in this system show a plethora of diverse physical phenomena(3-14). To better understand the interface conductivity, we used scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy to image the magnetic field locally generated by current in an interface. At low temperature, we found that the current flowed in conductive narrow paths oriented along the crystallographic axes, embedded in a less conductive background. The configuration of these paths changed on thermal cycling above the STO cubic-to-tetragonal structural transition temperature, implying that the local conductivity is strongly modified by the STO tetragonal domain structure. The interplay between substrate domains and the interface provides an additional mechanism for understanding and controlling the behaviour of heterostructures.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1091-1095
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature Materials
Volume	12
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT3753
Publication status	Published - Dec 2013

Keywords

INTERFACES
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
HETEROSTRUCTURES
FERROMAGNETISM
COEXISTENCE
OXIDES
WALLS

Access to Document

10.1038/NMAT3753

Handle.net

Persistent link

Cite this

Kalisky, B., Spanton, E. M., Noad, H., Kirtley, J. R., Nowack, K. C., Bell, C., Sato, H. K., Hosoda, M., Xie, Y., Hikita, Y., Woltmann, C., Pfanzelt, G., Jany, R., Richter, C., Hwang, H. Y., Mannhart, J., Moler, K. A., & Bell, C. (2013). Locally enhanced conductivity due to the tetragonal domain structure in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaces. Nature Materials, 12(12), 1091-1095. https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT3753

@article{e9dad1e3e667418185ea8707f1b79748,

title = "Locally enhanced conductivity due to the tetragonal domain structure in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaces",

abstract = "The ability to control materials properties through interface engineering is demonstrated by the appearance of conductivity at the interface of certain insulators, most famously the {001} interface of the band insulators LaAlO3 and TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 (STO; refs 1,2). Transport and other measurements in this system show a plethora of diverse physical phenomena(3-14). To better understand the interface conductivity, we used scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy to image the magnetic field locally generated by current in an interface. At low temperature, we found that the current flowed in conductive narrow paths oriented along the crystallographic axes, embedded in a less conductive background. The configuration of these paths changed on thermal cycling above the STO cubic-to-tetragonal structural transition temperature, implying that the local conductivity is strongly modified by the STO tetragonal domain structure. The interplay between substrate domains and the interface provides an additional mechanism for understanding and controlling the behaviour of heterostructures.",

keywords = "INTERFACES, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, HETEROSTRUCTURES, FERROMAGNETISM, COEXISTENCE, OXIDES, WALLS",

author = "Beena Kalisky and Spanton, {Eric M.} and Hilary Noad and Kirtley, {John R.} and Nowack, {Katja C.} and Christopher Bell and Sato, {Hiroki K.} and Masayuki Hosoda and Yanwu Xie and Yasuyuki Hikita and Carsten Woltmann and Georg Pfanzelt and Rainer Jany and Christoph Richter and Hwang, {Harold Y.} and Jochen Mannhart and Moler, {Kathryn A.} and Chris Bell",

year = "2013",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/NMAT3753",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

pages = "1091--1095",

journal = "Nature Materials",

issn = "1476-1122",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

number = "12",

}

Kalisky, B, Spanton, EM, Noad, H, Kirtley, JR, Nowack, KC, Bell, C, Sato, HK, Hosoda, M, Xie, Y, Hikita, Y, Woltmann, C, Pfanzelt, G, Jany, R, Richter, C, Hwang, HY, Mannhart, J, Moler, KA & Bell, C 2013, 'Locally enhanced conductivity due to the tetragonal domain structure in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaces', Nature Materials, vol. 12, no. 12, pp. 1091-1095. https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT3753

TY - JOUR

T1 - Locally enhanced conductivity due to the tetragonal domain structure in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaces

AU - Kalisky, Beena

AU - Spanton, Eric M.

AU - Noad, Hilary

AU - Kirtley, John R.

AU - Nowack, Katja C.

AU - Bell, Christopher

AU - Sato, Hiroki K.

AU - Hosoda, Masayuki

AU - Xie, Yanwu

AU - Hikita, Yasuyuki

AU - Woltmann, Carsten

AU - Pfanzelt, Georg

AU - Jany, Rainer

AU - Richter, Christoph

AU - Hwang, Harold Y.

AU - Mannhart, Jochen

AU - Moler, Kathryn A.

AU - Bell, Chris

PY - 2013/12

Y1 - 2013/12

N2 - The ability to control materials properties through interface engineering is demonstrated by the appearance of conductivity at the interface of certain insulators, most famously the {001} interface of the band insulators LaAlO3 and TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 (STO; refs 1,2). Transport and other measurements in this system show a plethora of diverse physical phenomena(3-14). To better understand the interface conductivity, we used scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy to image the magnetic field locally generated by current in an interface. At low temperature, we found that the current flowed in conductive narrow paths oriented along the crystallographic axes, embedded in a less conductive background. The configuration of these paths changed on thermal cycling above the STO cubic-to-tetragonal structural transition temperature, implying that the local conductivity is strongly modified by the STO tetragonal domain structure. The interplay between substrate domains and the interface provides an additional mechanism for understanding and controlling the behaviour of heterostructures.

AB - The ability to control materials properties through interface engineering is demonstrated by the appearance of conductivity at the interface of certain insulators, most famously the {001} interface of the band insulators LaAlO3 and TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 (STO; refs 1,2). Transport and other measurements in this system show a plethora of diverse physical phenomena(3-14). To better understand the interface conductivity, we used scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy to image the magnetic field locally generated by current in an interface. At low temperature, we found that the current flowed in conductive narrow paths oriented along the crystallographic axes, embedded in a less conductive background. The configuration of these paths changed on thermal cycling above the STO cubic-to-tetragonal structural transition temperature, implying that the local conductivity is strongly modified by the STO tetragonal domain structure. The interplay between substrate domains and the interface provides an additional mechanism for understanding and controlling the behaviour of heterostructures.

KW - INTERFACES

KW - SUPERCONDUCTIVITY

KW - HETEROSTRUCTURES

KW - FERROMAGNETISM

KW - COEXISTENCE

KW - OXIDES

KW - WALLS

U2 - 10.1038/NMAT3753

DO - 10.1038/NMAT3753

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

SN - 1476-1122

VL - 12

SP - 1091

EP - 1095

JO - Nature Materials

JF - Nature Materials

IS - 12

ER -

Locally enhanced conductivity due to the tetragonal domain structure in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaces

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Handle.net

Fingerprint

Cite this