2007/03/31 by A. Brinkman, M. Huijben, M. van Zalk +7 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.str-el #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/nmat1931
Nature Materials, July issue
arxiv created 2007/06/04 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
The electronic reconstruction at the interface between two insulating oxides can give rise to a highly-conductive interface. In analogy to this remarkable interface-induced conductivity we show how, additionally, magnetism can be induced at the interface between the otherwise nonmagnetic insulating perovskites SrTiO3 and LaAlO3. A large negative magnetoresistance of the interface is found, together with a logarithmic temperature dependence of the sheet resistance. At low temperatures, the sheet resistance reveals magnetic hysteresis. Magnetic ordering is a key issue in solid-state science and its underlying mechanisms are still the subject of intense research. In particular, the interplay between localized magnetic moments and the spin of itinerant conduction electrons in a solid gives rise to intriguing many-body effects such as Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interactions, the Kondo effect, and carrier-induced ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic semiconductors. The conducting oxide interface now provides a versatile system to induce and manipulate magnetic moments in otherwise nonmagnetic materials.