Quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at the epitaxial alumina/SrTiO3 interface: Control of oxygen vacancies

Kormondy, Kristy J.; Posadas, Agham B.; Ngo, Thong Q.; Lu, Sirong; Goble, Nicholas; Jordan-Sweet, Jean; Gao, Xuan P. A.; Smith, David J.; McCartney, Martha R.; Ekerdt, John G.; Demkov, Alexander A.

doi:10.1063/1.4913860

Title: Quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at the epitaxial alumina/SrTiO₃ interface: Control of oxygen vacancies

Journal Article · Thu Mar 05 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4913860· OSTI ID:1229307

Kormondy, Kristy J. ^[1]; Posadas, Agham B. ^[1]; Ngo, Thong Q. ^[1]; Lu, Sirong ^[2]; Goble, Nicholas ^[3]; Jordan-Sweet, Jean ^[4]; Gao, Xuan P. A. ^[3]; Smith, David J. ^[2]; McCartney, Martha R. ^[2]; Ekerdt, John G. ^[1]; Demkov, Alexander A. ^[1]

Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States)
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY (United States)

In this paper, we report on the highly conductive layer formed at the crystalline γ-alumina/SrTiO₃ interface, which is attributed to oxygen vacancies. We describe the structure of thin γ-alumina layers deposited by molecular beam epitaxy on SrTiO₃ (001) at growth temperatures in the range of 400–800 °C, as determined by reflection-high-energy electron diffraction, x-ray diffraction, and high-resolution electron microscopy. In situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to confirm the presence of the oxygen-deficient layer. Electrical characterization indicates sheet carrier densities of ~10¹³ cm^–2 at room temperature for the sample deposited at 700 °C, with a maximum electron Hall mobility of 3100 cm²V^–1s^–1 at 3.2 K and room temperature mobility of 22 cm²V^–1s^–1. In conclusion, annealing in oxygen is found to reduce the carrier density and turn a conductive sample into an insulator.

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Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC00112704; FA9550-12-10494; FA9550-12-1-0441; AC02-98CH10886

OSTI ID:: 1229307

Report Number(s):: BNL-111382-2015-JA

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 9; ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 35 works

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
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Electronic transport
X-ray diffraction
Crystallographic defects
Electron diffraction
Hall effect
Epitaxy
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Title: Quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at the epitaxial alumina/SrTiO3 interface: Control of oxygen vacancies

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Title: Quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at the epitaxial alumina/SrTiO₃ interface: Control of oxygen vacancies