Nanowire Lifetimes Under Ambient Conditions*

The discovery of a tunable 2DEG at the interface of LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ has spurred interest in LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃, which exhibits numerous interesting properties. Using a conductive AFM lithography technique, we can create novel devices at the interface of LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ by locally confining the 2DEG to zero or one dimension [1]. However, in ambient conditions, an appreciable degradation of device lifetime occurs [2]. Previously, the decay rate of such devices was characterized as a function of humidity and pressure; however, its dependence on temperature has yet to be determined. Here we describe experiments detailing efforts to quantify the device lifetimes as a function of temperature under otherwise ambient conditions, which will aid in the creation of new, more complex devices.

[1] C. Cen et al., Science 323, 1026-1030 (2009).
[2] F. Bi et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 173110 (2010).