Reversible Formation of 2D Electron Gas at the LaFeO3 /SrTiO3 Interface via Control of Oxygen Vacancies

Adv Mater. 2017 Mar;29(10). doi: 10.1002/adma.201604447. Epub 2017 Jan 16.

Abstract

A conducting 2D electron gas (2DEG) is formed at the interface between epitaxial LaFeO3 layers >3 unit cells thick and the surface of SrTiO3 single crystals. The 2DEG is exquisitely sensitive to cation intermixing and oxygen nonstoichiometry. It is shown that the latter thus allows the controllable formation of the 2DEG via ionic liquid gating, thereby forming a nonvolatile switch.

Keywords: 2D electron gas; first principle calculation; ionic liquid gating; lanthanum ferrite; oxygen vacancy control.