Tuning two-dimensional electron (hole) gases at LaInO3_{3}/BaSnO3_{3} interfaces: Impact of polar distortions, termination, and thickness

Two-dimensional election gases (2DEG), arising due to quantum confinement at interfaces between transparent conducting oxides, have received tremendous attention in view of electronic applications. The challenge is to find a material system that exhibits both a high charge-carrier density and mobility, at and even above room temperature. Here, we explore the potential of interfaces formed by two lattice-matched wide-gap oxides of emerging interest, $\textit{i.e.}$, the polar, orthorhombic perovskite LaInO$_{3}$ and the non-polar, cubic perovskite BaSnO$_{3}$, employing density-functional theory and many-body theory. We demonstrate that this material combination exhibits all the key features for reaching the goal. For periodic heterostructures, we find that the polar discontinuity at the interface is mainly compensated by electronic relaxation through charge transfer from the LaInO$_{3}$ to the BaSnO$_{3}$ side. This leads to the formation of a 2DEG hosted by the highly-dispersive Sn-$s$-derived conduction band and a 2D hole gas of O-$p$ character, strongly localized inside LaInO$_{3}$. Remarkably, structural distortions through octahedra tilts induce a depolarization field counteracting the polar discontinuity, and thus increasing the $critical$ (minimal) LaInO$_{3}$ thickness, $t_c$, required for the formation of a 2DEG. These polar distortions decrease with increasing LaInO$_{3}$ thickness, enhancing the polar discontinuity and leading to a 2DEG density of 0.5 electron per unit-cell surface. Interestingly, in non-periodic heterostructures, these distortions lead to a decrease of $t_c$, thereby enhancing and delocalizing the 2DEG. We rationalize how polar distortions, termination, and thickness can be exploited in view of tailoring the 2DEG characteristics, and why this material is superior to the most studied prototype LaAlO$_{3}$/SrTiO$_{3}$

Similarity of materials and data-quality assessment by fingerprinting

Identifying similar materials, i.e., those sharing a certain property or feature, requires interoperable data of high quality. It also requires means to measure similarity. We demonstrate how a spectral fingerprint as a descriptor, combined with a similarity metric, can be used for establishing quantitative relationships between materials data, thereby serving multiple purposes. This concerns, for instance, the identification of materials exhibiting electronic properties similar to a chosen one. The same approach can be used for assessing uncertainty in data that potentially come from different sources. Selected examples show how to quantify differences between measured optical spectra or the impact of methodology and computational parameters on calculated properties, like the the density of states or excitonic spectra. Moreover, combining the same fingerprint with a clustering approach allows us to explore materials spaces in view of finding (un)expected trends or patterns. In all cases, we provide physical reasoning behind the findings of the automatized assessment of data

Excitations in cubic BaSnO3_{3}: a consistent picture revealed by combining theory and experiment

Among the transparent conducting oxides, the perovskite barium stannate is most promising for various electronic applications due to its outstanding carrier mobility achieved at room temperature. Most important characteristics however, $i.e.$, its band gap, effective masses, and absorption edge remain controversial. Here, we provide a fully consistent picture by combining state-of-the-art $ab~initio$ methodology with forefront electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and optical absorption measurements. On- and off-axis valence EELS spectra, featuring signals originating from band gap transitions, are acquired on defect-free sample regions of a BaSnO$_{3}$ single crystal. These high-energy-resolution measurements are able to capture also very weak excitations below the optical gap, attributed to indirect transitions. By temperature-dependent optical absorption measurements, we assess band-gap renormalization effects induced by electron-phonon coupling. Overall, we find for the effective electronic mass, the direct and the indirect gap, the optical gap as well as the absorption onsets and spectra excellent agreement between both experimental techniques and the theoretical many-body results, supporting also the picture of a phonon-mediated mechanism where indirect transitions are activated by phonon-induced symmetry lowering. This work demonstrates a fruitful connection between different high-level theoretical and experimental methods for exploring the characteristics of advanced materials

Enhanced Light–Matter Interaction in Graphene/h-BN van der Waals Heterostructures

By investigating the optoelectronic properties of prototypical graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) heterostructures, we demonstrate how a nanostructured combination of these materials can lead to a dramatic enhancement of light–matter interaction and give rise to unique excitations. In the framework of ab initio many-body perturbation theory, we show that such heterostructures absorb light over a broad frequency range, from the near-infrared to the ultraviolet (UV), and that each spectral region is characterized by a specific type of excitations. Delocalized electron–hole pairs in graphene dominate the low-energy part of the spectrum, while strongly bound electron–hole pairs in h-BN are preserved in the near-UV. Besides these features, characteristic of the pristine constituents, charge-transfer excitations appear across the visible region. Remarkably, the spatial distribution of the electron and the hole can be selectively tuned by modulating the stacking arrangement of the individual building blocks. Our results open up unprecedented perspectives in view of designing van der Waals heterostructures with tailored optoelectronic features

Melt Growth and Physical Properties of Bulk LaInO3 Single Crystals

Large bulk LaInO3 single crystals are grown from the melt contained within iridium crucibles by the vertical gradient freeze (VGF) method. The obtained crystals are undoped or intentionally doped with Ba or Ce, and enabled wafer fabrication of size 10 × 10 mm2. High melting point of LaInO3 (≈1880 °C) and thermal instability at high temperatures require specific conditions for bulk crystal growth. The crystals do not undergo any phase transition up to 1300 °C, above which a noticeable thermal decomposition takes place. The good structural quality of the crystals makes them suitable for epitaxy. The onset of strong optical absorption shows orientation-dependent behavior due to the orthorhombic symmetry of the LaInO3 crystals. Assuming direct transitions, optical bandgaps of 4.35 and 4.39 eV are obtained for polarizations along the [010] and the [100], [001] crystallographic directions, respectively. There is an additional weak absorption in the range between 2.8 and 4 eV due to oxygen vacancies. Density-functional-theory calculations support the interpretation of the optical absorption data. Cathodoluminescence spectra show a broad, structured emission band peaking at ≈2.2 eV. All bulk crystals are electrically insulating. The relative static dielectric constant is determined at a value of 24.6 along the [001] direction