Gate-imprinted memory and light-induced erasure of superconductivity at KTaO_3-based interfaces

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates reconfigurable, non-volatile superconductivity at KTaO_3 interfaces, achieved through gate-induced memory effects and light erasure, enabled by coupling between superconductivity and lattice excitations.

Contribution

It uncovers a novel interplay between superconductivity and lattice dynamics in KTaO_3 heterostructures, enabling memory control and light-induced erasure of superconductivity.

Findings

Gate-history enhances superconducting transition temperature.

Light illumination erases superconductivity at cryogenic temperatures.

Coupling involves polar-nanoregion reorientation and oxygen-vacancy ionization.

Abstract

Realizing non-volatile control of superconductivity is a key step toward integrating memory and quantum functionality in future information technologies. KTaO_3-based heterostructures uniquely host both interfacial two-dimensional superconductivity and a quantum paraelectric lattice background. The coupling between these two degrees of freedom potentially provides a promising route to encode memory directly into the superconducting state. Here, we reveal two intertwined phenomena in AlO_x/KTaO_3 heterostructures: a gate-history memory in which progressive electrostatic cycling enhances the superconducting transition temperature, and its complete erasure by light illumination at cryogenic temperatures. These phenomena arise from a previously unrecognized interplay between the superconducting interface and emergent lattice excitations - including polar-nanoregion reorientation and oxygen-vacancy ionization. These results demonstrate reconfigurable and non-volatile superconductivity at correlated oxide interfaces, opening a pathway to combine dissipationless transport with non-volatility for superconducting neuromorphic elements.