Perspectives of cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy for complex oxide physics

• Published in: Physics letters. A 2018-03, Vol.382 (11), p.739-748
• Main Authors: Wang, Aaron, Chien, TeYu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Complex oxide; Electronic band diagram; Electronic density of states; Heterostructures; Interfacial physics; Scanning tunneling microscopy
• ISSN: 0375-9601; 1873-2429
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physleta.2018.01.016

Complex oxide heterostructure interfaces have shown novel physical phenomena which do not exist in bulk materials. These heterostructures can be used in the potential applications in the next generation devices and served as the playgrounds for the fundamental physics research. The direct measurements of the interfaces with excellent spatial resolution and physical property information is rather difficult to achieve with the existing tools. Recently developed cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (XSTM/S) for complex oxide interfaces have proven to be capable of providing local electronic density of states (LDOS) information at the interface with spatial resolution down to nanometer scale. In this perspective, we will briefly introduce the basic idea and some recent achievements in using XSTM/S to study complex oxide interfaces. We will also discuss the future of this technique and the field of the interfacial physics. •Review on the STM studies on fractured non-cleavable complex oxide materials.•Review on the XSTM studies on various complex oxide heterostructures.•Perspectives of the future of the XSTM technique.