Robust Electronic Structure of Manganite-Buffered Oxide Interfaces with Extreme Mobility Enhancement.

The electronic structure as well as the mechanism underlying the high-mobility two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) at complex oxide interfaces remain elusive. Herein, using soft X-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we present the band dispersion of metallic states at buffered LaAlO/SrTiO (LAO/STO) heterointerfaces where a single-unit-cell LaMnO (LMO) spacer not only enhances the electron mobility but also renders the electronic structure robust toward X-ray radiation. By tracing the evolution of band dispersion, orbital occupation, and electron-phonon interaction of the interfacial 2DEG, we find unambiguous evidence that the insertion of the LMO buffer strongly suppresses both the formation of oxygen vacancies as well as the electron-phonon interaction on the STO side. The latter effect makes the buffered sample different from any other STO-based interfaces and may explain the maximum mobility enhancement achieved at buffered oxide interfaces.