Creation of high mobility two-dimensional electron gases via strain induced polarization at an otherwise nonpolar complex oxide interface

The discovery of two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) in SrTiO3-based heterostructures provides new opportunities for nanoelectronics. Herein, we create a new type of oxide 2DEG by the epitaxial-strain-induced polarization at an otherwise nonpolar perovskite-type interface of CaZrO3/SrTiO3. Remarkably, this heterointerface is atomically sharp, and exhibits a high electron mobility exceeding 60,000 cm2V-1s-1 at low temperatures. The 2DEG carrier density exhibits a critical dependence on the film thickness, in good agreement with the polarization induced 2DEG scheme.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figs; Nano Letters,2015, published onlin

Evidence of weak superconductivity at the room-temperature grown LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ interface

The two-dimensional electron gas at the crystalline LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (c-LAO/STO) interface has sparked large interest due to its exotic properties, including an intriguing gate-tunable superconducting phase. While there is growing evidence of pronounced spatial inhomogeneity in the conductivity at STO-based interfaces, the consequences for superconductivity remain largely unknown. We study interfaces based on amorphous LAO top layers grown at room temperature (a-LAO/STO) and demonstrate a superconducting phase similar to c-LAO/STO, however, with a gate-tunable critical temperature of 460 mK. The dependence of the superconducting critical current on temperature, magnetic field, and back-gate-controlled doping is found to be consistently described by a model of a random array of Josephson-coupled superconducting domains