Field-effect control of superconductivity and Rashba spin-orbit coupling in top-gated LaAlO3/SrTiO3 devices

• Published in: Scientific reports 2015-08, Vol.5 (1), p.12751, Article 12751
• Main Authors: Hurand, S., Jouan, A., Feuillet-Palma, C., Singh, G., Biscaras, J., Lesne, E., Reyren, N., Barthélémy, A., Bibes, M., Villegas, J. E., Ulysse, C., Lafosse, X., Pannetier-Lecoeur, M., Caprara, S., Grilli, M., Lesueur, J., Bergeal, N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/766/119/1003; 639/766/119/544; Fabrication; Gases; Humanities and Social Sciences; Interfaces; multidisciplinary; Phase transitions; Physical properties; Science
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep12751

The recent development in the fabrication of artificial oxide heterostructures opens new avenues in the field of quantum materials by enabling the manipulation of the charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom. In this context, the discovery of two-dimensional electron gases (2-DEGs) at LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 interfaces, which exhibit both superconductivity and strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC), represents a major breakthrough. Here, we report on the realisation of a field-effect LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 device, whose physical properties, including superconductivity and SOC, can be tuned over a wide range by a top-gate voltage. We derive a phase diagram, which emphasises a field-effect-induced superconductor-to-insulator quantum phase transition. Magneto-transport measurements show that the Rashba coupling constant increases linearly with the interfacial electric field. Our results pave the way for the realisation of mesoscopic devices, where these two properties can be manipulated on a local scale by means of top-gates.