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Coupling Charge and Topological Reconstructions at Polar Oxide Interfaces

Published inPhysical review letters, vol. 127, no. 12, 127202
Publication date2021-09-16
First online date2021-09-16
Abstract

In oxide heterostructures, different materials are integrated into a single artificial crystal, resulting in a breaking of inversion-symmetry across the heterointerfaces. A notable example is the interface between polar and non-polar materials, where valence discontinuities lead to otherwise inaccessible charge and spin states. This approach paved the way to the discovery of numerous unconventional properties absent in the bulk constituents. However, control of the geometric structure of the electronic wavefunctions in correlated oxides remains an open challenge. Here, we create heterostructures consisting of ultrathin SrRuO3 , an itinerant ferromagnet hosting momentum-space sources of Berry curvature, and LaAlO3 , a polar wide-bandgap insulator. Transmission electron microscopy reveals an atomically sharp LaO/RuO2 /SrO interface configuration, leading to excess charge being pinned near the LaAlO3 /SrRuO3 interface. We demonstrate through magneto-optical characterisation, theoretical calculations and transport measurements that the real-space charge reconstruction modifies the momentum-space Berry curvature in SrRuO3 , driving a reorganization of the topological charges in the band structure. Our results illustrate how the topological and magnetic features of oxides can be manipulated by engineering charge discontinuities at oxide interfaces.

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Affiliation Not a UNIGE publication
Research group
Funding
  • European Commission - Enabling Science and Technology through European Electron Microscopy [823717]
  • European Commission - Designer Quantum Materials Out of Equilibrium [677458]
  • European Commission - QuantERA ERA-NET Cofund in Quantum Technologies [731473]
  • European Commission - Picometer metrology for light-element nanostructures: making every electron count [770887]
Citation (ISO format)
VAN THIEL, T. C. et al. Coupling Charge and Topological Reconstructions at Polar Oxide Interfaces. In: Physical review letters, 2021, vol. 127, n° 12, p. 127202. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.127202
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ISSN of the journal0031-9007
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