Competition between electron pairing and phase coherence in superconducting interfaces.

In LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures, a gate tunable superconducting electron gas is confined in a quantum well at the interface between two insulating oxides. Remarkably, the gas coexists with both magnetism and strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling. However, both the origin of superconductivity and the nature of the transition to the normal state over the whole doping range remain elusive. Here we use resonant microwave transport to extract the superfluid stiffness and the superconducting gap energy of the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface as a function of carrier density. We show that the superconducting phase diagram of this system is controlled by the competition between electron pairing and phase coherence. The analysis of the superfluid density reveals that only a very small fraction of the electrons condenses into the superconducting state. We propose that this corresponds to the weak filling of high-energy dxz/dyz bands in the quantum well, more apt to host superconductivity.

Highly efficient and tunable spin-to-charge conversion through Rashba coupling at oxide interfaces.

The spin-orbit interaction couples the electrons' motion to their spin. As a result, a charge current running through a material with strong spin-orbit coupling generates a transverse spin current (spin Hall effect, SHE) and vice versa (inverse spin Hall effect, ISHE). The emergence of SHE and ISHE as charge-to-spin interconversion mechanisms offers a variety of novel spintronic functionalities and devices, some of which do not require any ferromagnetic material. However, the interconversion efficiency of SHE and ISHE (spin Hall angle) is a bulk property that rarely exceeds ten percent, and does not take advantage of interfacial and low-dimensional effects otherwise ubiquitous in spintronic hetero- and mesostructures. Here, we make use of an interface-driven spin-orbit coupling mechanism-the Rashba effect-in the oxide two-dimensional electron system (2DES) LaAlO3/SrTiO3 to achieve spin-to-charge conversion with unprecedented efficiency. Through spin pumping, we inject a spin current from a NiFe film into the oxide 2DES and detect the resulting charge current, which can be strongly modulated by a gate voltage. We discuss the amplitude of the effect and its gate dependence on the basis of the electronic structure of the 2DES and highlight the importance of a long scattering time to achieve efficient spin-to-charge interconversion.

Balance between Coiled-Coil Stability and Dynamics Regulates Activity of BvgS Sensor Kinase in Bordetella.

UNLABELLED: The two-component system BvgAS controls the expression of the virulence regulon of Bordetella pertussis. BvgS is a prototype of bacterial sensor kinases with extracytoplasmic Venus flytrap perception domains. Following its transmembrane segment, BvgS harbors a cytoplasmic Per-Arnt-Sim (PAS) domain and then a predicted 2-helix coiled coil that precede the dimerization-histidine-phosphotransfer domain of the kinase. BvgS homologs have a similar domain organization, or they harbor only a predicted coiled coil between the transmembrane and the dimerization-histidine-phosphotransfer domains. Here, we show that the 2-helix coiled coil of BvgS regulates the enzymatic activity in a mechanical manner. Its marginally stable hydrophobic interface enables a switch between a state of great rotational dynamics in the kinase mode and a more rigid conformation in the phosphatase mode in response to signal perception by the periplasmic domains. We further show that the activity of BvgS is controlled in the same manner if its PAS domain is replaced with the natural α-helical sequences of PAS-less homologs. Clamshell motions of the Venus flytrap domains trigger the shift of the coiled coil's dynamics. Thus, we have uncovered a general mechanism of regulation for the BvgS family of Venus flytrap-containing two-component sensor kinases. IMPORTANCE: The two-component system BvgAS of the whooping cough agent Bordetella pertussis regulates the virulence factors necessary for infection in a coordinated manner. BvgS is the prototype of a family of sensor kinase proteins found in major bacterial pathogens. When BvgS functions as a kinase, B. pertussis is virulent, and the bacterium shifts to an avirulent phase after BvgS senses chemicals that make it switch to phosphatase. Our goal is to decipher the signaling mechanisms of BvgS in order to understand virulence regulation in Bordetella, which may lead to new antimicrobial treatments targeting those two-component systems. We discovered that the activity of BvgS is regulated in a mechanical manner. A short region of the protein that precedes the enzymatic domain switches between two states in response to signal perception by other BvgS domains. This switch region is conserved among BvgS homologs, and thus, the regulation uncovered here will likely be relevant for the family.

Field-effect control of superconductivity and Rashba spin-orbit coupling in top-gated LaAlO3/SrTiO3 devices.

The recent development in the fabrication of artificial oxide heterostructures opens new avenues in the field of quantum materials by enabling the manipulation of the charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom. In this context, the discovery of two-dimensional electron gases (2-DEGs) at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces, which exhibit both superconductivity and strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC), represents a major breakthrough. Here, we report on the realisation of a field-effect LaAlO3/SrTiO3 device, whose physical properties, including superconductivity and SOC, can be tuned over a wide range by a top-gate voltage. We derive a phase diagram, which emphasises a field-effect-induced superconductor-to-insulator quantum phase transition. Magneto-transport measurements show that the Rashba coupling constant increases linearly with the interfacial electric field. Our results pave the way for the realisation of mesoscopic devices, where these two properties can be manipulated on a local scale by means of top-gates.

Limit of the electrostatic doping in two-dimensional electron gases of LaXO3(X = Al, Ti)/SrTiO3.

In LaTiO3/SrTiO3 and LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures, the bending of the SrTiO3 conduction band at the interface forms a quantum well that contains a superconducting two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG). Its carrier density and electronic properties, such as superconductivity and Rashba spin-orbit coupling can be controlled by electrostatic gating. In this article we show that the Fermi energy lies intrinsically near the top of the quantum well. Beyond a filling threshold, electrons added by electrostatic gating escape from the well, hence limiting the possibility to reach a highly-doped regime. This leads to an irreversible doping regime where all the electronic properties of the 2-DEG, such as its resistivity and its superconducting transition temperature, saturate. The escape mechanism can be described by the simple analytical model we propose.

Suppression of the critical thickness threshold for conductivity at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface.

Perovskite materials engineered in epitaxial heterostructures have been intensely investigated during the last decade. The interface formed by an LaAlO3 thin film grown on top of a TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 substrate hosts a two-dimensional electronic system and has become the prototypical example of this field. Although controversy exists regarding some of its physical properties and their precise origin, it is universally found that conductivity only appears beyond an LaAlO3 thickness threshold of four unit cells. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that this critical thickness can be reduced to just one unit cell when a metallic film of cobalt is deposited on top of LaAlO3. First-principles calculations indicate that Co modifies the electrostatic boundary conditions and induces a charge transfer towards the Ti 3d bands, supporting the electrostatic origin of the electronic system at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. Our results expand the interest of this low-dimensional oxide system from in-plane to perpendicular transport and to the exploration of elastic and inelastic tunnel-type transport of (spin-polarized) carriers.

Towards electrical spin injection into LaAlO3-SrTiO3.

Future spintronics devices will be built from elemental blocks allowing the electrical injection, propagation, manipulation and detection of spin-based information. Owing to their remarkable multi-functional and strongly correlated character, oxide materials already provide such building blocks for charge-based devices such as ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FETs), as well as for spin-based two-terminal devices such as magnetic tunnel junctions, with giant responses in both cases. Until now, the lack of suitable channel materials and the uncertainty of spin-injection conditions in these compounds had however prevented the exploration of similar giant responses in oxide-based lateral spin transport structures. In this paper, we discuss the potential of oxide-based spin FETs and report magnetotransport data that suggest electrical spin injection into the LaAlO(3)-SrTiO(3) interface system. In a local, three-terminal measurement scheme, we analyse the voltage variation associated with the precession of the injected spin accumulation driven by perpendicular or longitudinal magnetic fields (Hanle and 'inverted' Hanle effects). The spin accumulation signal appears to be much larger than expected, probably owing to amplification effects by resonant tunnelling through localized states in the LaAlO(3). We give perspectives on how to achieve direct spin injection with increased detection efficiency, as well on the implementation of efficient top gating schemes for spin manipulation.

Gate-controlled spin injection at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces.

We report results of electrical spin injection at the high-mobility quasi-two-dimensional electron system (2-DES) that forms at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. In a nonlocal, three-terminal measurement geometry, we analyze the voltage variation associated with the precession of the injected spin accumulation driven by perpendicular or transverse magnetic fields (Hanle and inverted Hanle effect). The influence of bias and back-gate voltages reveals that the spin accumulation signal is amplified by resonant tunneling through localized states in the LaAlO3 strongly coupled to the 2-DES by tunneling transfer.