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Vlad Pribiag, Bharat Jalan: Scattering, Superconductivity and Magnetism in MBE-Grown Complex Oxide Thin Films

A fascinating consequence of strong electron correlations is the emergence of a wide range of quantum phases in transition metal oxides. For example, SrTiO₃ (STO), a band insulator, can become a superconductor when doped with oxygen vacancies, Nb or La. The discovery of superconductivity in STO more than 50 years ago has served as inspiration for the subsequent development of cuprate high-Tc superconductors. Yet, the details of superconductivity in STO remain largely unknown to date. Moreover, interfaces between STO and polar complex oxides give rise to further emergent properties. The canonical example is the LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ (LAO/STO) interface, which hosts an ultra-high-density two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) with properties ranging from magnetism to large tunable spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and robust superconductivity, although both constituent oxides are band insulators.

Here, we propose to combine MBE-growth and milli-Kelvin transport to explore 1) the scattering mechanisms and superconductivity in gated Nd:STO and 2) magnetism in STO-based heterostructures. This work will focus primarily on electrostatic control.

Funded by the National Science Foundation through the University of Minnesota MRSEC under Award Number DMR-1420013