Metallic capped quasi-two-dimensional electron gas in a SrTiO3-based heterostructure

Two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in SrTiO3 (STO)-based heterostructures has been a subject of intense scientific interest in recent years. In this work, the metallic transition metal dichalcogenides ZrTe2 was grown on STO by pulsed laser deposition and AlN was subsequently deposited as a protection layer. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy results demonstrated the system as a multilayer structure of AlN/ZrTe2/ZrO2/STO due to interface redox reactions and implied a conductive STO surface. The remarkable Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations detected by angular dependent magnetotransport measurements reveal clear evidence of a high mobility quasi-2DEG in the STO-based interface. Moreover, evidence for extra carriers with three-dimensional features is observed implying the multiband contributions, which provide an explanation for some anomalous behavior in STO-based heterostructures. In addition, the thickness dependence study suggests the charge transfer effect between the capping metallic topological material ZrTe2 and the interfacial 2DEG. This work provides insight into the intrinsic electronic structure of STO-based heterostructures, and the integrated systems can serve as a platform for studying the interplay of the 2DEG with attractive materials as well as developing practical device applications.