Imaging and tuning polarity at SrTiO3 domain walls

Abstract

Electrostatic fields tune the ground state of interfaces between complex oxide materials. Electronic properties, such as conductivity and superconductivity, can be tuned and then used to create and control circuit elements and gate-defined devices. Here we show that naturally occurring twin boundaries, with properties that are different from their surrounding bulk, can tune the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface 2DEG at the nanoscale. In particular, SrTiO3 domain boundaries have the unusual distinction of remaining highly mobile down to low temperatures, and were recently suggested to be polar. Here we apply localized pressure to an individual SrTiO3 twin boundary and detect a change in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface current distribution. Our data directly confirm the existence of polarity at the twin boundaries, and demonstrate that they can serve as effective tunable gates. As the location of SrTiO3 domain walls can be controlled using external field stimuli, our findings suggest a novel approach to manipulate SrTiO3-based devices on the nanoscale.

References in corpus (13)

• Electric Field Control of the LaAlO${}_3$/SrTiO${}_3$ Interface Ground State
• Tunable Rashba spin-orbit interaction at oxide interfaces
• Strain gradient induced polarization in SrTiO3 single crystals
• Evidence for an Anisotropic State of Two-Dimensional Electrons in High Landau Levels
• Tuning spin-orbit coupling and superconductivity at the SrTiO3/LaAlO3 interface: a magneto-transport study
• Quantum criticality in ferroelectrics
• Locally enhanced conductivity due to the tetragonal domain structure in LaAlO${}_3$/SrTiO${}_3$ heterointerfaces
• Local Electrostatic Imaging of Striped Domain Order in LaAlO3/SrTiO3
• Thickness dependence of the mobility at the LaAlO_3 / SrTiO_3 interface
• Anisotropic transport at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface explained by microscopic imaging of channel-flow over SrTiO3 domains
• Comment on ``Evidence for Anisotropic State of Two-Dimensional Electrons in High Landau Levels''
• Nanoscale Electrostatic Control of Oxide Interfaces
• Quantum interference in an interfacial superconductor

Cited by in corpus (26)

• Moiré Engineering of Electronic Phenomena in Correlated Oxides
• Non-linear $IV$ characteristics in two-dimensional superconductors: Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless physics vs inhomogeneity
• New insights into the electron trapping mechanism in LaAlO_3 / SrTiO3 heterostructures
• Magnetic, thermal, and topographic imaging with a nanometer-scale SQUID-on-cantilever scanning probe
• Incipient ferroelectricity: A route towards bulk-terminated SrTiO3
• Self-formed $LaAl{O}_3/SrTi{O}_3$ Micro-Membranes
• Dynamic multiferroicity of a ferroelectric quantum critical point
• High sensitivity variable-temperature infrared nanoscopy of conducting oxide interfaces
• Shubnikov-de Haas-like Quantum Oscillations in Artificial One-Dimensional LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Electron Channels
• Polarity of domain boundaries in nonpolar materials derived from order parameter and layer group symmetry
• Scanning SQUID microscopy in a cryogen-free dilution refrigerator
• Electron trapping and detrapping in an oxide two-dimensional electron gas: The role of ferroelastic twin walls
• Non-universal current flow near the metal-insulator transition in an oxide interface
• Bimodal Phase Diagram of the Superfluid Density in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Revealed by an Interfacial Waveguide Resonator
• A femto-Tesla DC SQUID design for quantum-ready readouts
• Temperature and electric field dependence of spin relaxation in graphene on SrTiO${}_3$
• Effective reduction in thermal conductivity by high-density dislocations in SrTiO3
• Non-collinear and strongly asymmetric polar moments at back-gated SrTiO3 interfaces
• Observation of zero-field transverse resistance in AlO${}_x$/SrTiO${}_3$ interface devices
• Coexistence of high electron-mobility, unpaired spins, and superconductivity at high carrier density SrTiO${}_3$-based interfaces
• Domain wall nature of sketched LaAlO3/SrTiO3 nanowires
• Inhomogeneous superconductivity and quasilinear magnetoresistance at amorphous LaTiO3/SrTiO3 interfaces
• Beyond being free: glassy dynamics of SrTiO${}_3$-based two-dimensional electron gas
• Strong Aharonov-Bohm quantum interference in simply-connected LaAlO${}_3$/SrTiO${}_3$ structures
• Electrically controlled quantum transition to an anomalous metal in 2D
• Nanoscale Polar Landscapes in Quantum Paraelectric SrTiO3