Unusual Electrical Conductivity Driven by Localized Stoichiometry Modification at Vertical Epitaxial Interfaces

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that localized stoichiometry modification at vertical epitaxial interfaces can induce highly directional electrical conductivity, overcoming dead layer issues and enabling nanoscale control of electron transport in oxide heterostructures.

Contribution

It reveals how cation diffusion-driven stoichiometry changes can switch LSMO from insulating to metallic at interfaces, offering a new method for engineering oxide electronics.

Findings

Over three orders of magnitude difference in out-of-plane vs. in-plane conductivity.

Localized cation diffusion causes phase transition from insulator to metal.

Stoichiometry modification overcomes dead layer problems in LSMO.

Abstract

Precise control of lattice mismatch accommodation and cation interdiffusion across the interface is critical to modulate correlated functionalities in epitaxial heterostructures, particularly when the interface composition is positioned near a compositional phase transition boundary. Here we select La1-xSrxMnO3 (LSMO) as a prototypical phase transition material and establish vertical epitaxial interfaces with NiO to explore the strong interplay between strain accommodation, stoichiometry modification, and localized electron transport across the interface. It is found that localized stoichiometry modification overcomes the plaguing dead layer problem in LSMO and leads to strongly directional conductivity, as manifested by more than three orders of magnitude difference between out-of-plane to in-plane conductivity. Comprehensive structural characterization and transport measurements reveal that this emerging behavior is related to a compositional change produced by directional cation diffusion that pushes the LSMO phase transition from insulating into metallic within an ultrathin interface region. This study explores the nature of unusual electric conductivity at vertical epitaxial interfaces and establishes an effective route for engineering nanoscale electron transport for oxide electronics.