Combined Spectroscopy and Electrical Characterization of La:BaSnO$_\text{3}$ Thin Films and Heterostructures

TL;DR

This study combines spectroscopy and electrical measurements to analyze how La doping affects the electronic structure and transport properties of BaSnO3 thin films, providing insights into their band structure evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a combined spectroscopic and transport approach to systematically study La-doped BaSnO3 films, revealing the relationship between doping, surface composition, and electronic states.

Findings

Increased La doping causes asymmetry in Sn 3d core level spectra.

Surface composition and electronic states evolve with doping levels.

Results enhance understanding of doping effects on band structure and transport.

Abstract

For La-doped BaSnO$_\text{3}$ thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition, we combine chemical surface characterization and electronic transport studies to probe the evolution of electronic states in the band structure for different La-doping content. Systematic analyses of spectroscopic data based on fitting the core electron line shapes help to unravel the composition of the surface as well as the dynamics associated with increasing doping. This dynamics is observed with a more pronounced signature in the Sn 3d core level, which exhibits an increasing asymmetry to the high binding energy side of the peak with increasing electron density. The present results expand the current understanding of the interplay between the doping concentration, electronic band structure and transport properties of epitaxial La:BaSnO$_\text{3}$ films.