Direct Imaging of Sketched Conductive Nanostructures at the LaAlO<sub>3</sub>/SrTiO<sub>3</sub> Interface

ORAL

Abstract

Nanoscale control of the quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3(LAO/STO)
interface by a conductive probe tip has triggered the development of a number of novel
electronic devices. While the spatial distribution of the conductance is crucial for such devices, it
is challenging to directly visualize the local electrical properties at the buried interface. Here we
demonstrate conductivity imaging of sketched nanostructures at the LAO/STO interface by
microwave impedance microscopy (MIM) with a lateral resolution on the order of 100 nm. The
sheet conductance extracted from the MIM data agrees with the transport measurement. The tip-
induced insulator-to-metal transition is observed above a threshold voltage of +4 V. Our work
paves the way to study emergent phenomena at oxide interfaces by probing nanoscale
conductance distribution.

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Presenters

  • Zhanzhi Jiang

    • Univ of Texas, Austin

Authors

  • Zhanzhi Jiang

    • Univ of Texas, Austin

  • Xiaoyu Wu

    • Univ of Texas, Austin

  • Hyungwoo Lee

    • University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Univ of Wisconsin-Madison
    • University of Wisconsin
    • University of Wisconsin–Madison
    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison
    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Jungwoo Lee

    • University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Jianan Li

    • Physics, Univ of Pittsburgh
    • Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Univ of Pittsburgh
    • Physics, University of Pittsburgh
    • University of Pittsburgh
    • Physics and Astronomy, Univ of Pittsburgh

  • Guanglei Cheng

    • University of Science and Technology of China
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh

  • Chang-Beom Eom

    • University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Univ of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Univ of Wisconsin, Madison
    • Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Matls Sci & Eng, University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • University of Wisconsin
    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • University of Wisconsin–Madison
    • MS&E, University of Wisconsin
    • Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison
    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Jeremy Levy

    • Univ of Pittsburgh
    • Physics, Univ of Pittsburgh
    • University of Pittsburgh
    • Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Univ of Pittsburgh
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
    • Physics, University of Pittsburgh
    • Physics and Astronomy, Univ of Pittsburgh

  • Keji Lai

    • University of Texas at Austin
    • Univ of Texas, Austin
    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin