Efficient charge modulation in ultrathin LaAlO$_3$-SrTiO$_3$ field-effect transistors

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates efficient, repeatable charge modulation in ultrathin LaAlO$_3$-SrTiO$_3$ transistors with minimal leakage, highlighting their potential for versatile electronic applications.

Contribution

It reports the first successful operation of locally gated LaAlO$_3$-SrTiO$_3$ transistors with a four-unit-cell-thick dielectric, achieving high charge modulation efficiency.

Findings

Charge modulation of ~3.2×10^{13} cm^{-2} within ±1 V

Negligible gate leakage current observed

Large stray capacitance affects nanoscale device operation

Abstract

At the LaAlO$_3$-SrTiO$_3$ interface, electronic phase transitions can be triggered by modulation of the charge carrier density, making this system an excellent prospect for the realization of versatile electronic devices. Here, we report repeatable transistor operation in locally gated LaAlO$_3$-SrTiO$_3$ field-effect devices of which the LaAlO$_3$ dielectric is only four unit cells thin, the critical thickness for conduction at this interface. This extremely thin dielectric allows a very efficient charge modulation of ${\sim}3.2\times10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ within a gate-voltage window of $\pm1$ V, as extracted from capacitance-voltage measurements. These also reveal a large stray capacitance between gate and source, presenting a complication for nanoscale device operation. Despite the small LaAlO$_3$ thickness, we observe a negligible gate leakage current, which we ascribe to the extension of the conducting states into the SrTiO$_3$ substrate.