UV Photo Response Driven by Pd Nano Particles on LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Using Ambient Control Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy

High-mobility and two dimensional conduction at the interface between two band insulators, LaAlO3 (LAO) and SrTiO3 (STO), have attracted considerable research interest for both applications and fundamental understanding. Several groups have reported the photoconductivity of LAO/STO, which give us lots of potential development of optoelectronic applications using the oxide interface. Recently, a giant photo response of Pd nano particles/LAO/STO is observed in UV illumination compared with LAO/STO sample. These phenomena have been suggested that the correlation between the interface and the surface states significantly affect local charge modification and resulting electrical transport. Water and gas adsorption/desorption can alter the band alignment and surface workfunction. Therefore, characterizing and manipulating the electric charges in these materials (electrons and ions) are crucial for investigating the physics of metal oxide. Proposed mechanism do not well explain the experimental data in various ambient and there has been no quantitative work to confirm these mechanism. Here, we have investigated UV photo response in various ambient by performing transport and Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements simultaneously. We found that Pd nano particles on LAO can form Schottky contact, it cause interface carrier density and characteristics of persistence photo conductance depending on gas environment. Our studies will help to improve our understanding on the intriguing physical properties providing an important role in many enhanced light sensing and gas sensing applications as a catalytic material in different kinds of metal oxide systems.