Intrinsic interfacial van der Waals monolayers and their effect on the high-temperature superconductor FeSe/SrTiO3

Abstract

The sensitive dependence of monolayer materials on their environment often gives rise to unexpected properties. It was recently demonstrated that monolayer FeSe on a SrTiO3 substrate exhibits a much higher superconducting critical temperature Tc than the bulk material. Here, we examine the interfacial structure of FeSe/SrTiO3 and the effect of an interfacial Ti1+xO2 layer on the increased Tc using a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy and density functional theory. We find Ti1+xO2 forms its own quasi-two-dimensional layer, bonding to both the substrate and the FeSe film by van der Waals interactions. The excess Ti in this layer can reconstruct the FeSe Fermi surface in a manner consistent with experimental observations. Moreover, the interfacial layer introduces symmetry-breaking distortions in the FeSe film that may favor a Tc increase. These results suggest that this common substrate may be functionalized to modify the electronic structure of a variety of thin films and monolayers.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

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