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Local switching of two-dimensional superconductivity using the ferroelectric field effect

Nature volume 441, pages 195–198 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Correlated oxides display a variety of extraordinary physical properties including high-temperature superconductivity1 and colossal magnetoresistance2. In these materials, strong electronic correlations often lead to competing ground states that are sensitive to many parameters—in particular the doping level—so that complex phase diagrams are observed. A flexible way to explore the role of doping is to tune the electron or hole concentration with electric fields, as is done in standard semiconductor field effect transistors3. Here we demonstrate a model oxide system based on high-quality heterostructures in which the ferroelectric field effect approach can be studied. We use a single-crystal film of the perovskite superconductor Nb-doped SrTiO3 as the superconducting channel and ferroelectric Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 as the gate oxide. Atomic force microscopy is used to locally reverse the ferroelectric polarization, thus inducing large resistivity and carrier modulations, resulting in a clear shift in the superconducting critical temperature. Field-induced switching from the normal state to the (zero resistance) superconducting state was achieved at a well-defined temperature. This unique system could lead to a field of research in which devices are realized by locally defining in the same material superconducting and normal regions with ‘perfect’ interfaces, the interface being purely electronic. Using this approach, one could potentially design one-dimensional superconducting wires, superconducting rings and junctions, superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) or arrays of pinning centres.

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Figure 1: Diagram of the device, and topographic and piezoelectric images of the field effect active region.
Figure 2: Transport properties for the two polarization states.
Figure 3: Superconducting properties for the two polarization states.
Figure 4: Dependence of the critical temperature on carrier density for the two polarization states.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Dawber for a careful reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation through the National Center of Competence in Research, ‘Materials with Novel Electronic Properties, MaNEP’ and division II, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan, and ESF (Thiox).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DPMC, University of Geneva, 24 Quai Ernest Ansermet, 1211 4, Geneva, Switzerland

    K. S. Takahashi, D. Jaccard & J.-M. Triscone

  2. Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Université de Paris-Sud, Orsay, 91405, France

    M. Gabay

  3. Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo, Chiba, 277-8581, Japan

    K. Shibuya, T. Ohnishi & M. Lippmaa

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  1. K. S. Takahashi
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  2. M. Gabay
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Correspondence to J.-M. Triscone.

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Takahashi, K., Gabay, M., Jaccard, D. et al. Local switching of two-dimensional superconductivity using the ferroelectric field effect. Nature 441, 195–198 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04731

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