Light-Induced Giant Rashba Spin–Orbit Coupling at Superconducting KTaO3(110) Heterointerfaces

Yulin Gan, Fazhi Yang, Lingyuan Kong, Xuejiao Chen, Hao Xu, Jin Zhao, Gang Li, Yuchen Zhao, Lei Yan, Zhicheng Zhong, Yunzhong Chen, Hong Ding

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14 Scopus citations

Abstract

The 2D electron system (2DES) at the KTaO3 surface or heterointerface with 5d orbitals hosts extraordinary physical properties, including a stronger Rashba spin–orbit coupling (RSOC), higher superconducting transition temperature, and potential of topological superconductivity. Herein, a huge enhancement of RSOC under light illumination achieved at a superconducting amorphous-Hf0.5Zr0.5O2/KTaO3(110) heterointerfaces is reported. The superconducting transition is observed with Tc = 0.62 K and the temperature-dependent upper critical field reveals the interaction between spin–orbit scattering and superconductivity. A strong RSOC with Bso = 1.9 T is revealed by weak antilocalization in the normal state, which undergoes sevenfold enhancement under light illumination. Furthermore, RSOC strength develops a dome-shaped dependence of carrier density with the maximum of Bso = 12.6 T achieved near the Lifshitz transition point nc ≈ 4.1 × 1013 cm−2. The highly tunable giant RSOC at KTaO3(110)-based superconducting interfaces show great potential for spintronics.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2300582
JournalAdvanced Materials
Volume35
Issue number25
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 22 2023
Externally publishedYes

Funding

The authors thank Yi Liu and Jian Wang for helpful discussion. Project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.11888101, 52088101, 51327806, 12204523), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB28000000, XDB07000000), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFA1400300), the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences of CAS (Grant No. ZDBS‐LY‐SLH008), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M680726, YJ20200325). This work was supported by the Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility (SECUF).

Keywords

  • Lifshitz transition
  • Rashba spin–orbit coupling
  • light modulation
  • oxide interfaces
  • superconductivity

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