Electronic structure and band alignment at an epitaxial spinel/perovskite heterojunction

The electronic properties of solid-solid interfaces play critical roles in a variety of technological applications. Recent advances of film epitaxy and characterization techniques have demonstrated a wealth of exotic phenomena at interfaces of oxide materials, which are critically dependent on the alignment of their energy bands across the interface. Here we report a combined photoemission and electrical investigation of the electronic structures across a prototypical spinel/perovskite heterojunction. Energy-level band alignment at an epitaxial Co₃O₄/SrTiO₃(001) heterointerface indicates a chemically abrupt, type I heterojunction without detectable band bending at both the film and substrate. The unexpected band alignment for this typical p-type semiconductor on SrTiO₃ is attributed to its intrinsic d-d interband excitation, which significantly narrows the fundamental band gap between the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band. The formation of the type I heterojunction with a flat-band state results in a simultaneous confinement of both electrons and holes inside the Co ₃O₄ layer, thus rendering the epitaxial Co ₃O₄/SrTiO₃(001) heterostructure to be a very promising material for high-efficiency luminescence and optoelectronic device applications.