Publication Date:
2016-02-25
Description:
Nature Materials 15, 278 (2016). doi:10.1038/nmat4491 Authors: D. Stornaiuolo, C. Cantoni, G. M. De Luca, R. Di Capua, E. Di. Gennaro, G. Ghiringhelli, B. Jouault, D. Marrè, D. Massarotti, F. Miletto Granozio, I. Pallecchi, C. Piamonteze, S. Rusponi, F. Tafuri & M. Salluzzo Advances in growth technology of oxide materials allow single atomic layer control of heterostructures. In particular delta doping, a key materials’ engineering tool in today’s semiconductor technology, is now also available for oxides. Here we show that a fully electric-field-tunable spin-polarized and superconducting quasi-2D electron system (q2DES) can be artificially created by inserting a few unit cells of delta doping EuTiO3 at the interface between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 oxides. Spin polarization emerges below the ferromagnetic transition temperature of the EuTiO3 layer (TFM = 6–8 K) and is due to the exchange interaction between the magnetic moments of Eu-4f and of Ti-3d electrons. Moreover, in a large region of the phase diagram, superconductivity sets in from a ferromagnetic normal state. The occurrence of magnetic interactions, superconductivity and spin–orbit coupling in the same q2DES makes the LaAlO3/EuTiO3/SrTiO3 system an intriguing platform for the emergence of novel quantum phases in low-dimensional materials.
Print ISSN:
1476-1122
Electronic ISSN:
1476-4660
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
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Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
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Natural Sciences in General
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Physics
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