Epitaxial SrTiO3 films with dielectric constants exceeding 25,000

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Jun 7;119(23):e2202189119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2202189119. Epub 2022 Jun 2.

Abstract

SignificanceSemiconductor interfaces are among the most important in use in modern technology. The properties they exhibit can either enable or disable the characteristics of the materials they connect for functional performance. While much is known about important junctions involving conventional semiconductors such as Si and GaAs, there are several unsolved mysteries surrounding interfaces between oxide semiconductors. Here we resolve a long-standing issue concerning the measurement of anomalously low dielectric constants in SrTiO3 films with record high electron mobilities. We show that the junction between doped and undoped SrTiO3 required to make dielectric constant measurements masks the dielectric properties of the undoped film. Through modeling, we extract the latter and show that it is much higher than previously measured.

Keywords: SrTiO3 film; antiferrodistortive transition; dielectric constant; ferroelectricity.