Control of electronic conduction at an oxide heterointerface using surface polar adsorbates

Yanwu Xie; Yasuyuki Hikita; Christopher Bell; Harold Y Hwang

doi:10.1038/ncomms1501

Control of electronic conduction at an oxide heterointerface using surface polar adsorbates

Nat Commun. 2011 Oct 11:2:494. doi: 10.1038/ncomms1501.

Authors

Yanwu Xie¹, Yasuyuki Hikita, Christopher Bell, Harold Y Hwang

Affiliation

¹ Department of Advanced Materials Science, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan.

PMID: 21988910
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1501

Abstract

The interface between LaAlO(3) and SrTiO(3) possesses a range of intriguing properties, notably a proposed connection between the surface state of the LaAlO(3) and the conductivity buried in the SrTiO(3). Here we study the effect of the surface adsorption of a variety of common laboratory solvents on the conductivity at the interface between LaAlO(3) and SrTiO(3). We show that the application of chemicals such as acetone, ethanol, and water can induce a large change in the conductivity, and, in particular, an insulator to metal transition around the critical LaAlO(3) thickness. This phenomenon is observed only for polar solvents. These data provide experimental evidence for a general polarization-facilitated electronic transfer mechanism.