Beyond being free: glassy dynamics of SrTiO$_3$-based two-dimensional electron gas

TL;DR

This study reveals glassy electron dynamics in a metallic two-dimensional electron gas at the SrTiO$_3$ interface, driven by ferroelastic twin walls and their associated order parameters, expanding the understanding of electron glasses.

Contribution

It demonstrates glassy behavior in a well-known quantum paraelectric material, linking structural twin walls to electron glass phenomena in a metallic state.

Findings

Long-lasting resistance relaxations observed

Memory effects indicative of glassiness

Glass dynamics tunable by electric field

Abstract

Electron glasses offer a convenient laboratory platform to study glassy dynamics. Traditionally, the interplay between long-range Coulomb interactions and disorder is deemed instrumental in stabilizing the electron glass phase. Existing experimental studies on electron glass have focused on doped semiconductors, strongly correlated systems, granular systems, etc., all of which are far from the well-delocalized limit. In this work, we expand the study of electron glasses to a well-known quantum paraelectric SrTiO$_3$ (STO) and unveil a new scenario: how naturally occurring ferroelastic twin walls of STO could result in glassy electrons, even in a metallic state. We show that the emergent two-dimensional electron gas at the $\gamma$-Al$_2$O$_3$/STO interface exhibits long-lasting temporal relaxations in resistance and memory effects at low temperatures, which are hallmarks of glassiness. We also demonstrate that the glass-like relaxations could be further tuned by application of an electric field. This implies that the observed glassy dynamics is connected with the development of polarity near the structural twin walls of STO and the complex interactions among them, arising from the coupling between ferroelastic and ferroelectric orders. The observation of this glassy metal phase not only extends the concept of electron glasses to metallic systems with multiple order parameters but also contributes to the growing understanding of the fascinating and diverse physical phenomena that emerge near the quantum critical point.