title: Mobility Modulation and Suppression of Defect Formation in Two-Dimensional Electron Systems by Charge-Transfer Management.
abstract: Electron mobility is one of the most-debated key attributes of low-dimensional electron systems emerging at complex oxide heterointerfaces. However, a common understanding of how electron mobility can be optimized in these systems has not been achieved so far. Here, we discuss a novel approach for achieving a systematic increase in electron mobility in polar/nonpolar perovskite interfaces by suppressing the thermodynamically required defect formation at the nanoscale. We discuss the transport properties of electron gases established at interfaces between SrTiO3and various polar perovskites [LaAlO3, NdGaO3, and (La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3], allowing for the individual variation of epitaxial strain and charge transfer among these epitaxial interfaces. As we show, the reduced charge transfer at (La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3/SrTiO3interfaces yields a systematic increase in electron mobility, while the reduced epitaxial strain has only minor impact. As thermodynamic continuum simulations suggest, the charge transfer across these interfaces affects both the spatial distribution of electrons and the background distribution of ionic defects, acting as major scatter centers within the potential well. Easing charge transfer in (La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3/SrTiO3yields an enlarged spatial separation of mobile charge carriers and scattering centers, as well as a reduced driving force for the formation of ionic defects at the nanoscale. Our results suggest a general recipe for achieving electron enhancements at oxide heterostructure interfaces and provide new perspectives for atomistic understanding of electron scattering in these systems.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Electronic Materials, RWTH Aachen University , 52062 Aachen, Germany.|Peter Grünberg Institute, Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1178-9986
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gunkel
authors.affiliation: Peter Grünberg Institute, Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Ronja A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Heinen
authors.affiliation: Peter Grünberg Institute, Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hoffmann-Eifert
authors.affiliation: Peter Grünberg Institute, Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany.|Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6924-2364
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Peter Grünberg Institute, Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany.|Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Chun-Lin
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Peter Grünberg Institute, Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dittmann
keywords: 2DEG; defect formation; interface chemistry; mobility; oxide heterointerfaces; thermodynamics