A high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas at the heteroepitaxial spinel/perovskite complex oxide interface of {\gamma}-Al2O3/SrTiO3

• Published in: arXiv.org 2013-04
• Main Authors: Chen, Y Z, Bovet, N, Trier, F, Christensen, D V, Qu, F M, Andersen, N H, Kasama, T, Zhang, W, Giraud, R, Dufouleur, J, Jespersen, T S, Sun, J R, Smith, A, Nygård, J, L Lu, Büchner, B, Shen, B G, Linderoth, S, Pryds, N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum oxide; Electron gas; Electron mobility; Electronic devices; Electrons; Magnetoresistance; Magnetoresistivity; Mesoscopic physics; Oxygen ions; Perovskites; Photonics; Spinel; Strontium titanates
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1304.0336

The discovery of two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) at the heterointerface between two insulating perovskite-type oxides, such as LaAlO3 and SrTiO3, provides opportunities for a new generation of all-oxide electronic and photonic devices. However, significant improvement of the interfacial electron mobility beyond the current value of approximately 1,000 cm2V-1s-1 (at low temperatures), remains a key challenge for fundamental as well as applied research of complex oxides. Here, we present a new type of 2DEG created at the heterointerface between SrTiO3 and a spinel {\gamma}-Al2O3 epitaxial film with excellent quality and compatible oxygen ions sublattices. This spinel/perovskite oxide heterointerface exhibits electron mobilities more than one order of magnitude higher than those of perovskite/perovskite oxide interfaces, and demonstrates unambiguous two-dimensional conduction character as revealed by the observation of quantum magnetoresistance oscillations. Furthermore, we find that the spinel/perovskite 2DEG results from interface-stabilized oxygen vacancies and is confined within a layer of 0.9 nm in proximity to the heterointerface. Our findings pave the way for studies of mesoscopic physics with complex oxides and design of high-mobility all-oxide electronic devices.