Adam P. Kajdos

Carrier-Controlled Ferromagnetism in SrTiO3

Magnetotransport and superconducting properties are investigated for uniformly La-doped SrTiO3 films and GdTiO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures, respectively. GdTiO3/SrTiO3 interfaces exhibit a high-density two-dimensional electron gas on the SrTiO3-side of the interface, while for the SrTiO3 films carriers are provided by the dopant atoms. Both types of samples exhibit ferromagnetism at low temperatures, as evidenced by a hysteresis in the magnetoresistance. For the uniformly doped SrTiO3 films, the Curie temperature is found to increase with doping and to coexist with superconductivity for carrier concentrations on the high-density side of the superconducting dome. The Curie temperature of the GdTiO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures scales with the thickness of the SrTiO3 quantum well. The results are used to construct a stability diagram for the ferromagnetic and superconducting phases of SrTiO3.

Intrinsic Mobility Limiting Mechanisms in Lanthanum-Doped Strontium Titanate

The temperature dependent Hall mobility data from La-doped SrTiO3 thin films has been analyzed and modeled considering various electron scattering mechanisms. We find that a ~6 meV transverse optical phonon (TO) deformation potential scattering mechanism is necessary to explain the dependence of transport on temperature between 10-200 K. Also, we find that the low temperature electron mobility in intrinsic (nominally undoped) SrTiO3 is limited by acoustic phonon scattering. Adding the above two scattering mechanisms to longitudinal optical phonon (LO) and ionized impurity scattering mechanisms, excellent quantitative agreement between mobility measurement and model is achieved in the whole temperature range (2-300K) and carrier concentrations ranging over a few orders of magnitude (8x1017 cm-3 - 2x1020 cm-3).

La-doped SrTiO3 films with large cryogenic thermoelectric power factors

The thermoelectric properties at temperatures between 10 K and 300 K of La-doped SrTiO3 thin films grown by hybrid molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on undoped SrTiO3 substrates are reported. Below 50 K, the Seebeck coefficients exhibit very large magnitudes due to the influence of phonon drag. Combined with high carrier mobilities, exceeding 50 000 cm2 V−1 s−1 at 2 K for the films with the lowest carrier densities, this leads to thermoelectric power factors as high as 470 μWcm−1 K−2. The results are compared with other promising low temperature thermoelectric materials and discussed in the context of coupling with phonons in the undoped substrate.

Growth window and effect of substrate symmetry in hybrid molecular beam epitaxy of a Mott insulating rare earth titanate

The conditions for the growth of stoichiometric GdTiO3 thin films by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are investigated. It is shown that relatively high growth temperatures (>750 °C) are required to obtain an MBE growth window in which only the stoichiometric film grows for a range of cation flux ratios. This growth window narrows with increasing film thickness. It is also shown that single-domain films are obtained by the growth on a symmetry-matched substrate. The influence of lattice mismatch strain on the electrical and magnetic characteristics of the GdTiO3 thin film is investigated.

Electric field-tunable BaxSr1−xTiO3 films with high figures of merit grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We report on the dielectric properties of BaxSr1−xTiO3 (BST) films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on epitaxial Pt bottom electrodes. Paraelectric films (x ≲ 0.5) exhibit dielectric losses that are similar to those of BST single crystals and ceramics. Films with device quality factors greater than 1000 and electric field tunabilities exceeding 1:5 are demonstrated. The results provide evidence for the importance of stoichiometry control and the use of a non-energetic deposition technique for achieving high figures of merit of tunable devices with BST thin films.

Probing the metal-insulator transition of NdNiO3 by electrostatic doping

Modulation of the charge carrier density in a Mott material by remote doping from a highly doped conventional band insulator is proposed to test theoretical predictions of band filling control of the Mott metal-insulator transition without introducing lattice distortions or disorder, as is the case for chemical doping. The approach is experimentally tested using ultrathin (2.5 nm) NdNiO3 films that are epitaxially grown on La-doped SrTiO3 films. We show that remote doping systematically changes the charge carrier density in the NdNiO3 film and causes a moderate shift in the metal-insulator transition temperature. These results are discussed in the context of theoretical models of this class of materials exhibiting a metal-insulator transition.

Spin injection and detection in lanthanum- and niobium-doped SrTiO3 using the Hanle technique

There has been much interest in the injection and detection of spin-polarized carriers in semiconductors for the purposes of developing novel spintronic devices. Here we report the electrical injection and detection of spin-polarized carriers into Nb-doped strontium titanate single crystals and La-doped strontium titanate epitaxial thin films using MgO tunnel barriers and the three-terminal Hanle technique. Spin lifetimes of up to ~100 ps are measured at room temperature and vary little as the temperature is decreased to low temperatures. However, the mobility of the strontium titanate has a strong temperature dependence. This behaviour and the carrier doping dependence of the spin lifetime suggest that the spin lifetime is limited by spin-dependent scattering at the MgO/strontium titanate interfaces, perhaps related to the formation of doping induced Ti(3+). Our results reveal a severe limitation of the three-terminal Hanle technique for measuring spin lifetimes within the interior of the subject material.

Limitations to the room temperature mobility of two- and three-dimensional electron liquids in SrTiO3

We analyze and compare the temperature dependence of the electron mobility of two- and three-dimensional electron liquids in SrTiO3. The contributions of electron-electron scattering must be taken into account to accurately describe the mobility in both cases. For uniformly doped, three-dimensional electron liquids, the room temperature mobility crosses over from longitudinal optical (LO) phonon-scattering-limited to electron-electron-scattering-limited as a function of carrier density. In high-density, two-dimensional electron liquids, LO phonon scattering is completely screened and the mobility is dominated by electron-electron scattering up to room temperature. The possible origins of the observed behavior and the consequences for approaches to improve the mobility are discussed.

Surface reconstructions in molecular beam epitaxy of SrTiO3

We show that reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) can be used as a highly sensitive tool to track surface and resulting film stoichiometry in adsorption-limited molecular beam epitaxy of (001) SrTiO3 thin films. Even under growth conditions that yield films with a lattice parameter that is identical to that of stoichiometric bulk crystals within the detection limit of high-resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD), changes in surface reconstruction occur from (1 × 1) to (2 × 1) to c(4 × 4) as the equivalent beam pressure of the Ti metalorganic source is increased. These surface reconstructions are correlated with a shift from mixed SrO/TiO2 termination to pure TiO2 termination. The crossover to TiO2 surface termination is also apparent in a phase shift in RHEED oscillations observed at the beginning of growth. Comparison with prior results for carrier mobilities of doped films shows that the best films are grown under conditions of a TiO2-saturated surface [c(4 × 4) reconstruction] within the XRD growth window.

Tailoring resistive switching in Pt/SrTiO3 junctions by stoichiometry control

Resistive switching effects in transition metal oxide-based devices offer new opportunities for information storage and computing technologies. Although it is known that resistive switching is a defect-driven phenomenon, the precise mechanisms are still poorly understood owing to the difficulty of systematically controlling specific point defects. As a result, obtaining reliable and reproducible devices remains a major challenge for this technology. Here, we demonstrate control of resistive switching based on intentional manipulation of native point defects. Oxide molecular beam epitaxy is used to systematically investigate the effect of Ti/Sr stoichiometry on resistive switching in high-quality Pt/SrTiO3 junctions. We demonstrate resistive switching with improved state retention through the introduction of Ti- and Sr-excess into the near-interface region. More broadly, the results demonstrate the utility of high quality metal/oxide interfaces and explicit control over structural defects to improve control, uniformity, and reproducibility of resistive switching processes. Unintentional interfacial contamination layers, which are present if Schottky contacts are processed at low temperature, can easily dominate the resistive switching characteristics and complicate the interpretation if nonstoichiometry is also present.