Strain effects on the electronic properties in δ-doped oxide superlattices

Abstract

Strain effects on the electronic properties of (LaTiO3)1/(SrTiO3)N superlattices were investigated using density functional theory. Under biaxial in-plane strain within the range of −5% ≤ ε// ≤ 5%, the dxy orbital electrons are highly localized at the interfaces whereas the dyz and dxz orbital electrons are more distributed in the SrTiO3 (STO) spacer layers. For STO thickness N ≥ 3 unit cells (u.c.), the dxy orbital electrons form two-dimensional (2D) electron gases (2DEGs). The quantized energy levels of the 2DEG are insensitive to the STO spacer thickness, but are strongly dependent on the applied biaxial in-plane strain. As the in-plane strain changes from compressive to tensile, the quantized energy levels of the dxy orbitals decrease thereby creating more states with 2D character. In contrast to the dxy orbital, the dyz and dxz orbitals always have three-dimensional (3D) transport characteristics and their energy levels increase as the strain changes from compressive to tensile. Since the charge densities in the dxy orbital and the dyz and dxz orbitals respond to biaxial in-plane strain in an opposite way, the transport dimensionality of the majority carriers can be controlled between 2D and 3D by applying biaxial in-plane strain.