Anisotropic superconductivity and frozen electronic states at the (111) LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface

Abstract

We report measurements of the superconducting properties of the two-dimensional (2D) gas that forms at the interface between LaAlO3 (LAO) and SrTiO3 (STO) in the (111) crystal orientation, a system that permits in situ tuning of carrier density and disorder by means of a back-gate voltage Vg. Like the (001) oriented LAO/STO interface, superconductivity at the (111) LAO/STO interface can be tuned by Vg. The 2D superconductivity in these (111) LAO/STO samples shows an in-plane anisotropy, being different along different interface crystal directions, and "remembers" the disorder landscape at which they are cooled through the superconducting transition. The low energy scale and other characteristics of this memory effect distinguish it from charge-trapping effects previously observed in (001) interface samples. © 2018 American Physical Society.