Non-volatile Control of 2DEG Conductance at Oxide Interfaces

Epitaxial complex oxide thin film heterostructures have attracted a great attention for their multifunctional properties, such as ferroelectricity, and ferromagnetism. Two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) confined at the interface between two insulating perovskite oxides such as LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface, provides opportunities to expand various electronic and memory devices in nano-scale. Recently, it was reported that the conductivity of 2DEG could be controlled by external electric field. However, the switched conductivity of 2DEG was not stable with time, resulting in relaxation due to the reaction between charged surface on LaAlO3 layer and atmospheric conditions. In this report, we demonstrated a way to control the conductivity of 2DEG in non-volatile way integrating ferroelectric materials into LAO/STO heterostructure. We fabricated epitaxial Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 films on LAO/STO heterostructure by pulsed laser deposition. The conductivity of 2DEG was reproducibly controlled with 3-order magnitude by switching the spontaneous polarization of PZT layer. The controlled conductivity was stable with time without relaxation over 60 hours. This is also consistent with robust polarization state of PZT layer confirmed by piezoresponse force microscopy. This work demonstrates a model system to combine ferroelectric material and 2DEG, which guides a way to realize novel multifunctional electronic devices.