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Capping layers and their roles in polar catastrophe scenario of LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (001) systems

  • Original Paper - Condensed Matter
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Abstract

Under the assumption that epitaxially strained growth is taking place under strained growth conditions, the metallic and insulating properties of LaAlO3 (LAO) films grown on TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 (STO) (001) substrates are theoretically investigated in this study. We studied the electronic properties LaAlO3/SrTiO3 films grown on the periodic superstructure of \(\surd 2\times \surd 2\) in-plane squares of STO substrate to accommodate the structural strain of heterogeneous film by allowing tilting of octahedra, as well as distortion. This enables us to study electronic and structural properties by allowing structural relaxation in a more realistic manner. This study examined spin-polarized Ti density functional calculations which promote metal–insulator transition toward thinner LAO/STO than in cases without spin polarization. Using the density of states at the Fermi level obtained from fully relaxed structures, the study shows that a capping layer of LaAlO3, Al2O3, and La2O3 on top of a stoichiometric AlO2 layer promotes toward-metallic transition, causing thin LAO films to undergo metallic transitions sooner than stoichiometric LAO films to do so.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a 2-Year Research Grant from Pusan National University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RCDAMP and Department of Physics Education, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Korea

    Jinhyung Cho

  2. Department of Physics, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Korea

    Hyoungjeen Jeen

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  1. Jinhyung Cho
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  2. Hyoungjeen Jeen
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Correspondence to Jinhyung Cho.

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Cho, J., Jeen, H. Capping layers and their roles in polar catastrophe scenario of LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (001) systems. J. Korean Phys. Soc. 81, 984–990 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40042-022-00645-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40042-022-00645-1

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