Coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism in two dimensions

Authors:
  • DDD. A. Dikin
    D. A. Dikin
  • MMM. Mehta
    M. Mehta
  • CBC. W. Bark
    C. W. Bark
  • CFC. M. Folkman
    C. M. Folkman
  • CEC. B. Eom
    C. B. Eom
  • VCV. Chandrasekhar
    V. Chandrasekhar

Abstract
Ferromagnetism is usually considered to be incompatible with conventional superconductivity, as it destroys the singlet correlations responsible for the pairing interaction. Superconductivity and ferromagnetism are known to coexist in only a few bulk rare-earth materials. Here we report evidence for their coexistence in a two-dimensional system: the interface between two bulk insulators, LaAlO3 (LAO) and SrTiO3 (STO), a system that has been studied intensively recently. Magnetoresistance, Hall and electric-field dependence measurements suggest that there are two distinct bands of charge carriers that contribute to the interface conductivity: one associated with Ti ions that is responsible for ferromagnetism, and a second associated with oxygen vacancies in the STO that is responsible for superconductivity.