ToF-SIMS profiling of Fe impurities in LaAlO3/SrTiO3

ORAL

Abstract

Complex oxides host many emergent phenomena which appear in heterostructures but not the bulk materials. LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 are both nonmagnetic complex oxides. Yet, there are many reports of magnetism at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3(LAO/STO) interface [1,2], but no clear indication about its origin. Here we describe time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) experiments to search for magnetic impurities at the LAO/STO interface. We find an abundance of Fe located within a few nanometers of the LAO/STO interface in two LAO/STO samples, while measurements on two other LAO/STO samples show no presence of Fe. We discuss these results in the context of what is known and reported in the LAO/STO system.

[1] Brinkman, A., et al. Nature Materials 6, 493-496 (2007)

[2] Pai, Yun-Yi, et al. 2019. In Spintronics Handbook: Spin Transport and Magnetism, Second Edition, 2nd Edition, 489–517. CRC Press.

*JL acknowledges support from NSF DMR-2225888 and AFOSR MURI (FA-9550-23-1-0368). CBE acknowledges the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative, Grant GBMF9065 and a Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (ONR N00014-20-1-2844). Transport measurement at the University of Wisconsin–Madison was supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), under award number DE-FG02-06ER46327.

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Presenters

  • Juliana Sebolt

    • University of Pittsburgh

Authors

  • Juliana Sebolt

    • University of Pittsburgh

  • Anton V Ievlev

    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    • Center for Nanophase Materials Science, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  • Kyoungjun Lee

    • University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • Jieun Kim

    • University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Chang-Beom Eom

    • University of Wisconsin - Madison
    • University of Wisconsin

  • Patrick R Irvin

    • University of Pittsburgh

  • Jeremy Levy

    • University of Pittsburgh