Anisotropic two-dimensional electron gas at SrTiO3(110)

Author(s)
Zhiming Wang, Zhicheng Zhong, Xianfeng Hao, Stefan Gerhold, Bernhard Stoeger, Michael Schmid, Jaime Sanchez-Barriga, Andrei Varykhalov, Cesare Franchini, Karsten Held, Ulrike Diebold
Abstract

Two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) at oxide heterostructures are attracting considerable attention, as these might one day substitute conventional semiconductors at least for some functionalities. Here we present a minimal setup for such a 2DEG-the SrTiO3(110)-(4 x 1) surface, natively terminated with one monolayer of tetrahedrally coordinated titania. Oxygen vacancies induced by synchrotron radiation migrate underneath this overlayer; this leads to a confining potential and electron doping such that a 2DEG develops. Our angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and theoretical results show that confinement along (110) is strikingly different from the (001) crystal orientation. In particular, the quantized subbands show a surprising "semiheavy" band, in contrast with the analog in the bulk, and a high electronic anisotropy. This anisotropy and even the effective mass of the (110) 2DEG is tunable by doping, offering a high flexibility to engineer the properties of this system.

Organisation(s)
Computational Materials Physics
External organisation(s)
Technische Universität Wien, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)
Volume
111
Pages
3933-3937
No. of pages
5
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1318304111
Publication date
03-2014
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103025 Quantum mechanics, 103036 Theoretical physics, 103015 Condensed matter, 103009 Solid state physics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
General
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/71fc3f6a-fdae-4a07-9bc9-aa36f222ad61