159 research outputs found
In-situ Investigation of the Early Stage of TiO2 epitaxy on (001) SrTiO3
We report on a systematic study of the growth of epitaxial TiO2 films
deposited by pulsed laser deposition on Ti-terminated (001) SrTiO3 single
crystals. By using in-situ reflection high energy electron diffraction, low
energy electron diffraction, x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and scanning
probe microscopy, we show that the stabilization of the anatase (001) phase is
preceded by the growth of a pseudomorphic Sr-Ti-O intermediate layer, with a
thickness between 2 and 4 nm. The data demonstrate that the formation of this
phase is related to the activation of long range Sr migration from the
substrate to the film. The role of interface Gibbs energy minimization, as a
driving force for Sr diffusion, is discussed. Our results enrich the phase
diagram of the Sr-Ti-O system under epitaxial strain opening the roudeficient
SrTiO phase.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
Time-resolved photoluminescence of n-doped SrTiO_3
Following the recent surge of interest in n-doped strontium titanate as a
possible blue light emitter, a time-resolved photoluminescence analysis was
performed on nominally pure, Nb-doped and oxygen-deficient single-crystal
SrTiO3 samples. The doping-effects on both the electronic states involved in
the transition and the decay mechanism are respectively analyzed by comparing
the spectral and dynamic features and the yields of the emission. Our
time-resolved analysis, besides shedding some light on the basic recombination
mechanisms acting in these materials, sets the intrinsic bandwidth limit of the
proposed blue light emitting optoelectronic devices made of Ti-based
perovskites heterostructures in the GHz range
Renormalization of Coulomb interactions in s-wave superconductor NaCoO
We study the renormalized Coulomb interactions due to retardation effect in
NaCoO. Although the Morel-Anderson's pseudo potential for
orbital is relatively large because the direct Coulomb repulsion
is large, that for interband transition between and
orbitals is very small since the renormalization factor for
pair hopping is square of that for . Therefore, the s-wave
superconductivity due to valence-band Suhl-Kondo mechanism will survive against
strong Coulomb interactions. The interband hopping of Cooper pairs due to shear
phonons is essential to understand the superconductivity in NaCoO.Comment: 2pages, 2figures, Proceedings of ICM in Kyoto, 200
Pulsed laser deposition of SrTiO3/LaGaO3 and SrTiO3/LaAlO3: plasma plume effects
Pulsed laser deposition of SrTiO3/LaGaO3 and SrTiO3/LaAlO3 interfaces has
been analyzed with a focus on the kinetic energy of the ablated species. LaGaO3
and LaAlO3 plasma plumes were studied by fast photography and space-resolved
optical emission spectroscopy. Reflection high energy electron diffraction was
performed proving a layer-by-layer growth up to 10-1 mbar oxygen pressure. The
role of the energetic plasma plume on the two-dimensional growth and the
presence of interfacial defects at different oxygen growth pressure has been
discussed in view of the conducting properties developing at such
polar/non-polar interfaces
Charge density waves enhance the electronic noise of manganites
The transport and noise properties of Pr_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3} epitaxial thin
films in the temperature range from room temperature to 160 K are reported. It
is shown that both the broadband 1/f noise properties and the dependence of
resistance on electric field are consistent with the idea of a collective
electrical transport, as in the classical model of sliding charge density
waves. On the other hand, the observations cannot be reconciled with standard
models of charge ordering and charge melting. Methodologically, it is proposed
to consider noise-spectra analysis as a unique tool for the identification of
the transport mechanism in such highly correlated systems. On the basis of the
results, the electrical transport is envisaged as one of the most effective
ways to understand the nature of the insulating, charge-modulated ground states
in manganites.Comment: 6 two-column pages, 5 figure
Probing charge transfer during metal-insulator transitions in graphene-LaAlO3/SrTiO3 systems
Two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) at the interface between LaAlO3 (LAO) and SrTiO3 (STO) perovskite oxides display a wide class of tunable phenomena ranging from superconductivity to metal-insulator transitions. Most of these effects are strongly sensitive to surface physics and often involve charge transfer mechanisms, which are, however, hard to detect. In this work, we realize hybrid field-effect devices where graphene is used to modulate the transport properties of the LAO/STO 2DES. Different from a conventional gate, graphene is semimetallic and allows us to probe charge transfer with the oxide structure underneath the field-effect electrode. In LAO/STO samples with a low initial carrier density, graphene-covered regions turn insulating when the temperature is lowered to 3 K, but conduction can be restored in the oxide structure by increasing the temperature or by field effect. The evolution of graphene's electron density is found to be inconsistent with a depletion of LAO/STO, but it rather points to a localization of interfacial carriers in the oxide structure.Two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) at the interface between LaAlO3 (LAO) and SrTiO3 (STO) perovskite oxides display a wide class of tunable phenomena ranging from superconductivity to metal-insulator transitions. Most of these effects are strongly sensitive to surface physics and often involve charge transfer mechanisms, which are, however, hard to detect. In this work, we realize hybrid field-effect devices where graphene is used to modulate the transport properties of the LAO/STO 2DES. Different from a conventional gate, graphene is semimetallic and allows us to probe charge transfer with the oxide structure underneath the field-effect electrode. In LAO/STO samples with a low initial carrier density, graphene-covered regions turn insulating when the temperature is lowered to 3 K, but conduction can be restored in the oxide structure by increasing the temperature or by field effect. The evolution of graphene's electron density is found to be inconsistent with a depletion of LAO/STO, but it rather p..
Polar catastrophe and electronic reconstructions at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface: evidence from optical second harmonic generation
The so-called "polar catastrophe", a sudden electronic reconstruction taking
place to compensate for the interfacial ionic polar discontinuity, is currently
considered as a likely factor to explain the surprising conductivity of the
interface between the insulators LaAlO3 and SrTiO3. We applied optical second
harmonic generation, a technique that a priori can detect both mobile and
localized interfacial electrons, to investigating the electronic polar
reconstructions taking place at the interface. As the LaAlO3 film thickness is
increased, we identify two abrupt electronic rearrangements: the first takes
place at a thickness of 3 unit cells, in the insulating state; the second
occurs at a thickness of 4-6 unit cells, i.e., just above the threshold for
which the samples become conducting. Two possible physical scenarios behind
these observations are proposed. The first is based on an electronic transfer
into localized electronic states at the interface that acts as a precursor of
the conductivity onset. In the second scenario, the signal variations are
attributed to the strong ionic relaxations taking place in the LaAlO3 layer
Electronic phase separation at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces tunable by oxygen deficiency
Electronic phase separation is crucial for the fascinating macroscopic
properties of the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) paradigm oxide interface, including
the coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism. We investigate this
phenomenon using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) in the
soft-X-ray energy range, where the enhanced probing depth combined with
resonant photoexcitation allow access to fundamental electronic structure
characteristics (momentum-resolved spectral function, dispersions and ordering
of energy bands, Fermi surface) of buried interfaces. Our experiment uses X-ray
irradiation of the LAO/STO interface to tune its oxygen deficiency, building up
a dichotomic system where mobile weakly correlated Ti t2g-electrons co-exist
with localized strongly correlated Ti eg-ones. The ARPES spectra dynamics under
X-ray irradiation shows a gradual intensity increase under constant Luttinger
count of the Fermi surface. This fact identifies electronic phase separation
(EPS) where the mobile electrons accumulate in conducting puddles with fixed
electronic structure embedded in an insulating host phase, and allows us to
estimate the lateral fraction of these puddles. We discuss the physics of EPS
invoking a theoretical picture of oxygen-vacancy clustering, promoted by the
magnetism of the localized Ti eg-electrons, and repelling of the mobile
t2g-electrons from these clusters. Our results on the irradiation-tuned EPS
elucidate the intrinsic one taking place at the stoichiometric LAO/STO
interfaces.Comment: In review with Phys. Rev. Material
Magnetic properties of pseudomorphic epitaxial films of Pr_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_3 under different biaxial tensile stresses
In order to analyse the effect of strain on the magnetic properties of
narrow-band manganites, the temperature and field dependent susceptibilities of
about 8.5 nm thick epitaxial Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 films, respectively grown on (001)
and (110) SrTiO3 substrates, have been compared. For ultrathin samples grown on
(001) SrTiO3, a bulk-like cluster-glass magnetic behaviour is found, indicative
of the possible coexistence of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic phases. On
the contrary, ultrathin films grown on (110) substrates show a robust
ferromagnetism, with a strong spontaneous magnetization of about 3.4 mB /Mn
atom along the easy axis. On the base of high resolution reciprocal space
mapping analyses performed by x-ray diffraction, the different behaviours are
discussed in terms of the crystallographic constraints imposed by the epitaxy
of Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 on SrTiO3. We suggest that for growth on (110) SrTiO3, the
tensile strain on the film c-axis, lying within the substrate plane, favours
the ferromagnetic phase, possibly by allowing a mixed occupancy and
hybridization of both in-plane and out-of-plane eg orbitals. Our data allow to
shed some physics of inhomogeneous states in manganites and on the nature of
their ferromagnetic insulating state.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
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