Critical thickness for ferromagnetism in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures

Beena Kalisky (), Julie A. Bert, Brannon B. Klopfer, Christopher Bell, Hiroki K. Sato, Masayuki Hosoda, Yasuyuki Hikita, Harold Y. Hwang and Kathryn A. Moler
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Beena Kalisky: Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Julie A. Bert: Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Brannon B. Klopfer: Nano-magnetism Research Center, Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar-Ilan University
Christopher Bell: Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Hiroki K. Sato: Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Masayuki Hosoda: Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Yasuyuki Hikita: Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Harold Y. Hwang: Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Kathryn A. Moler: Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Nature Communications, 2012, vol. 3, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract In LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaces, charge carriers migrate from the LaAlO3 to the interface in an electronic reconstruction. Magnetism has been observed in LaAlO3/SrTiO3, but its relationship to the interface conductivity is unknown. Here we show that reconstruction is necessary, but not sufficient, for the formation of magnetism. Using scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy we find that magnetism appears only above a critical LaAlO3 thickness, similar to the conductivity. We observe no change in ferromagnetism with gate voltage, and detect ferromagnetism in a non-conducting p-type sample. These observations indicate that the carriers at the interface do not need to be itinerant to generate magnetism. The ferromagnetism appears in isolated patches whose density varies greatly between samples. This inhomogeneity strongly suggests that disorder or local strain generates magnetism in a population of the interface carriers.

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1931

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