RESUMEN
The electronic properties of NdGaO3/SrTiO3, LaGaO3/SrTiO3, and LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces, all showing an insulator-to-metal transition as a function of the overlayer-thickness, are addressed in a comparative study based on x-ray absorption, x-ray photoemission and resonant photoemission spectroscopy. The nature of the charge carriers, their concentration and spatial distribution as well as the interface band alignments and the overall interface band diagrams are studied and quantitatively evaluated. The behavior of the three analyzed heterostructures is found to be remarkably similar. The valence band edge of all the three overlayers aligns to that of bulk SrTiO3. The near-interface SrTiO3 layer is affected, at increasing overlayer thickness, by the building-up of a confining potential. This potential bends both the valence and the conduction band downwards. The latter one crossing the Fermi energy in the proximity of the interface and determines the formation of an interfacial band offset growing as a function of thickness. Quite remarkably, but in agreement with previous reports for LaAlO3/SrTiO3, no electric field is detected inside any of the polar overlayers. The essential phenomenology emerging from our findings is discussed on the base of different alternative scenarios regarding the origin of interface carriers and their interaction with an intense photon beam.
RESUMEN
The time-resolved photoconductance of amorphous and crystalline LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces, both hosting an interfacial 2-dimensional electron gas, is investigated under irradiation by variable-wavelengths, visible or ultraviolet photons. Unlike bare SrTiO3 single crystals, showing relatively small photoconductance effects, both kinds of interfaces exhibit an intense and highly persistent photoconductance with extraordinarily long characteristic times. The temporal behaviour of the extra photoinduced conductance persisting after light irradiation shows a complex dependence on interface type (whether amorphous or crystalline), sample history and irradiation wavelength. The experimental results indicate that different mechanisms of photoexcitation are responsible for the photoconductance of crystalline and amorphous LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces under visible light. We propose that the response of crystalline samples is mainly due to the promotion of electrons from the valence bands of both SrTiO3 and LaAlO3. This second channel is less relevant in amorphous LaAlO3/SrTiO3, where the higher density of point defects plays instead a major role.
RESUMEN
Using state-of-the-art, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy with atomic-scale spatial resolution, experimental evidence for an intrinsic electronic reconstruction at the LAO/STO interface is shown. Simultaneous measurements of interfacial electron density and system polarization are crucial for establishing the highly debated origin of the 2D electron gas.
