title: Electrical transport measurements of thin film samples under high hydrostatic pressure.
abstract: We present a method to perform electrical measurements of epitaxial films and heterostructures a few nanometers thick under high hydrostatic pressures in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). Hydrostatic pressure offers the possibility to tune the rich landscape of properties shown by epitaxial heterostructures, systems in which the combination of different materials, performed with atomic precision, can give rise to properties not present in their individual constituents. Measuring electrical conductivity under hydrostatic pressure in these systems requires a robust method that can address all the challenges: the preparation of the sample with side length and thickness that fits in the DAC setup, a contacting method compatible with liquid media, a gasket insulation that resists high forces, as well as an accurate procedure to place the sample in the pressure chamber. We prove the robustness of the method described by measuring the resistance of a two dimensional electron system buried at the interface between two insulating oxides under hydrostatic conditions up to ∼5 GPa. The setup remains intact until ∼10 GPa, where large pressure gradients affect the two dimensional conductivity.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zabaleta
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Parks
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baum
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teker
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Syassen
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mannhart