Mixed Dimensionality of Confined Conducting Electrons in the Surface Region ofSrTiO3

Abstract

Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we show that the recently discovered surface state on SrTiO(3) consists of nondegenerate t(2g) states with different dimensional characters. While the d(xy) bands have quasi-2D dispersions with weak k(z) dependence, the lifted d(xz)/d(yz) bands show 3D dispersions that differ significantly from bulk expectations and signal that electrons associated with those orbitals permeate the near-surface region. Like their more 2D counterparts, the size and character of the d(xz)/d(yz) Fermi surface components are essentially the same for different sample preparations. Irradiating SrTiO(3) in ultrahigh vacuum is one method observed so far to induce the "universal" surface metallic state. We reveal that during this process, changes in the oxygen valence band spectral weight that coincide with the emergence of surface conductivity are disproportionate to any change in the total intensity of the O 1s core level spectrum. This signifies that the formation of the metallic surface goes beyond a straightforward chemical doping scenario and occurs in conjunction with profound changes in the initial states and/or spatial distribution of near-E(F) electrons in the surface region.

Giant spin splitting of the two-dimensional electron gas at the surface of SrTiO3

“…On the other hand, contrary to P x , which does not change with photon energy or polarization, the out-of-plane component (P z ) of the spin polarization for the inner subband presents an anomaly (it gets inverted) at hν = 52 eV. This suggests that P z originates from extrinsic matrix elements of the SARPES process (Supplementary Note 3).The possibility that the two light subbands of the 2DEG in SrTiO 3 are oppositely spin polarized had been overlooked in previous works [12,13,15], mainly for two reasons mentioned earlier. First, the splitting of the spin polarized state, namely ∼ 0.1Å −1 , or about 100 meV at E F , is unexpectedly large.…”

“…Strontium titanate (SrTiO 3 ), the cornerstone of such oxide-based electronics, is a transparent, nonmagnetic, wide-band-gap insulator in the bulk, and has recently been found to host a surface 2DEG [12][13][14][15]. The most strongly confined carriers within this 2DEG comprise two sub-bands, separated by an energy gap of 90 meV and forming concentric circular Fermi surfaces [12,13,15].…”

“…Strontium titanate (SrTiO 3 ), the cornerstone of such oxide-based electronics, is a transparent, nonmagnetic, wide-band-gap insulator in the bulk, and has recently been found to host a surface 2DEG [12][13][14][15]. The most strongly confined carriers within this 2DEG comprise two sub-bands, separated by an energy gap of 90 meV and forming concentric circular Fermi surfaces [12,13,15].Using spin-and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SARPES), we show that the electron spins in these sub-bands have opposite chiralities. Although the Rashba effect might be expected to give rise to such spin textures, the giant splitting of almost 100 meV at the Fermi level is far larger than anticipated [16,17].…”

“…This degeneracy can be lifted by time-reversal symmetry breaking, implying the possible existence of magnetic order. These results show that confined electronic states at oxide surfaces can be endowed with novel, non-trivial properties that are both theoretically challenging to anticipate and promising for technological applications.The 2DEG at the surface of SrTiO 3 , formed by confined electrons of the t 2g conduction band with Ti-3d character, is universal in the sense that its constituent subbands, their fillings, and their Fermi surfaces are independent of the bulk sample doping and of whether the surfaces are prepared by cleaving [12,13] or by etching and in situ annealing [15]. This 2DEG consists on two light electron subbands dispersing down to about −180 meV and, respectively, −90 meV below the Fermi level (E F ), producing concentric Fermi surfaces around the Brillouin zone center, and heavy shallow subbands dispersing down to about −40 meV, forming ellipsoidal Fermi surfaces [12,13,15].…”

“…This 2DEG consists on two light electron subbands dispersing down to about −180 meV and, respectively, −90 meV below the Fermi level (E F ), producing concentric Fermi surfaces around the Brillouin zone center, and heavy shallow subbands dispersing down to about −40 meV, forming ellipsoidal Fermi surfaces [12,13,15].…”