Physical insights into the Au growth on the surface of a LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerface

Researchers investigated the modification of the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface with Au overlayers and nanoparticles, which led to the change of various physical properties. However, no research is available to elucidate insights into the interaction of Au with the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 substrate. Therefore, this study is devoted to solving the question using density functional theory calculations. We also studied the optical properties of the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 system before and after the Au adsorption. We found that an additional optical peak occurs with significant intensity in the wavelength region of 600 nm to 1200 nm depending on the LaAlO3 film thickness. This peak is attributed to the increase in the hole states in the presence of Au adsorption with the increase in the LaAlO3 film thickness.

Automated summary

Density functional theory calculations were used to investigate the interaction between Au and the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 substrate. It was found that Au adsorption increased the thickness of LaAlO3 films and resulted in an additional optical peak in a specific wavelength range.