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Register a new userNon-volatile, reversible metal-insulator transition in oxide interfaces controlled by gate voltage and light
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Added by
Emiliano Di Gennaro Dr.
Publication date
2017
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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The field-effect-induced modulation of transport properties of 2-dimensional electron gases residing at the LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ and LaGaO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interfaces has been investigated in a back-gate configuration. Both samples with crystalline and with amorphous overlayers have been considered. We show that the naive standard scenario, in which the back electrode and the 2-dimensional electron gas are simply modeled as capacitor plates, dramatically fails in describing the observed phenomenology. Anomalies appearing after the first low-temperature application of a positive gate bias, and causing a non-volatile perturbation of sample properties, are observed in all our samples. Such anomalies are shown to drive low-carrier density samples to a persistent insulating state. Recovery of the pristine metallic state can be either obtained by a long room-temperature field annealing, or, instantaneously, by a relatively modest dose of visible-range photons. Illumination causes a sudden collapse of the electron system back to the metallic ground state, with a resistivity drop exceeding four orders of magnitude. The data are discussed and interpreted on the base of the analogy with floating-gate MOSFET devices, which sheds a new light on the effects of back-gating on oxide-based 2-dimensional electron gases. A more formal approach, allowing for a semi-quantitative estimate of the relevant surface carrier densities for different samples and under different back-gate voltages, is proposed in the Appendix.
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We present results from an experimental study of the equilibrium and non-equilibrium transport properties of vanadium oxide nanobeams near the metal-insulator transition (MIT). Application of a large electric field in the insulating phase across the nanobeams produces an abrupt MIT and the individual roles of thermal and non-thermal effects in driving the transition are studied. Transport measurements at temperatures ($T$) far below the critical temperature ($T_c$) of MIT, in several nanoscale vanadium oxide devices, show that both $T$ and electric field play distinctly separate, but critical roles in inducing the MIT. Specifically, at $T << T_c$ electric field dominates the MIT through an avalanche-type process, whereas thermal effects become progressively critical as $T$ approaches $T_c$.
The discovery of novel phases of matter is at the core of modern physics. In quantum materials, subtle variations in atomic-scale interactions can induce dramatic changes in macroscopic properties and drive phase transitions. Despite their importance, the mesoscale processes underpinning phase transitions often remain elusive because of the vast differences in timescales between atomic and electronic changes and thermodynamic transformations. Here, we photoinduce and directly observe with x-ray scattering an ultrafast enhancement of the structural long-range order in the archetypal Mott system V2O3. Despite the ultrafast change in crystal symmetry, the change of unit cell volume occurs an order of magnitude slower and coincides with the insulator-to-metal transition. The decoupling between the two structural responses in the time domain highlights the existence of a transient photoinduced precursor phase, which is distinct from the two structural phases present in equilibrium. X-ray nanoscopy reveals that acoustic phonons trapped in nanoscale blocks govern the dynamics of the ultrafast transition into the precursor phase, while nucleation and growth of metallic domains dictate the duration of the slower transition into the metallic phase. The enhancement of the long-range order before completion of the electronic transition demonstrates the critical role the non-equilibrium structural phases play during electronic phase transitions in correlated electrons systems.
Diluted oxide interface of LaAl1-xMnxO/SrTiO3 (LAMO/STO) provides a new way of tuning the ground states of the interface between the two band insulators of LAO and STO from metallic/superconducting to highly insulating. Increasing the Mn doping level (x) leads to a delicate control of the carrier density as well as a raise in the electron mobility and spin polarization. Herein, we demonstrate a tunable Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and spin polarization of LAMO/STO (0.2 <= x <= 0.3) by applying a back gate. The presence of SOC causes the splitting of energy band into two branches by a spin splitting energy. The maximum spin splitting energy depends on the Mn doping and decreases with the increasing Mn content and then vanishes at x = 0.3. The carrier density dependence of the spin splitting energy for different compositions shows a dome-shaped behavior with a maximum at different normalized carrier density. These findings have not yet been observed in LAO/STO interfaces. A fully back-gate-tunable spin-polarized 2DEL is observed at the interface with x = 0.3 where only dxy orbits are populated (5.3E12 cm-2 <= ns <= 1.0E13 cm-2). The present results shed light on unexplored territory in SOC at STO-base oxide heterostructures and make LAMO/STO an intriguing platform for spin-related phenomena in 3d-electron systems.
Results from transport measurements in individual $W_{x}V_{1-x}O_{2}$ nanowires with varying extents of $W$ doping are presented. An abrupt thermally driven metal-insulator transition (MIT) is observed in these wires and the transition temperature decreases with increasing $W$ content at a pronounced rate of - (48-56) K/$at.%W$, suggesting a significant alteration of the phase diagram from the bulk. These nanowires can also be driven through a voltage-driven MIT and the temperature dependence of the insulator to metal and metal to insulator switchings are studied. While driving from an insulator to metal, the threshold voltage at which the MIT occurs follows an exponential temperature dependence ($V_{THuparrow}proptoexp( icefrac{-T}{T_{0}})) $whereas driving from a metal to insulator, the threshold voltage follows $V_{THdownarrow}proptosqrt{T_{c}-T}$ and the implications of these results are discussed.
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