Impedance-based interpretations in 2-dimensional electron gas conduction formed in the LaAlO3/SrxCa1−xTiO3/SrTiO3 system

• Impedance spectroscopy was applied onto the LaAlO3/ SrxCa1−xTiO3/SrTiO3 system.
• The 2-dimensional conduction was modeled using an equivalent circuit model.
• The interfacial SrxCa1−xTiO3 layer modifies the 2-dimensional conduction mode.
• The charge transport is altered from metallic to semiconducting conduction.

Frequency-dependent impedance spectroscopy was applied to the 2-dimensioanl conduction transport in the LaAlO3/SrxCa1−xTiO3/SrTiO3 system. The 2-dimensional conduction modifies the electrical/dielectric responses of the LaAlO3/SrxCa1−xTiO3/SrTiO3 depending on the magnitude of the interfacial 2-dimensional resistance. The high conduction of the 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) layer can be described using a metallic resistor in series with two parallel RC circuits. However, the high resistance of the 2-dimensional layer drives the composite system from a finite low resistor in parallel with the surrounding dielectrics composed of LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 materials to a dielectric capacitor. This change in the resistance of the 2-dimensional layers modifies the overall impedance enabled by the presence of the interfacial layer due to SrxCa1−xTiO3, which alters the charge transport of the 2-dimensional layer from metallic to semiconducting conduction. A noticeable change is observed in the capacitance Bode plots, indicating highly amplified dielectric constants compared with the pristine SrTiO3 substrates and SrxCa1−xTiO3 with a greater Ca content.