Strain Tunable Interface States at the LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ Interface

The LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ (LAO/STO) interface exhibits novel emergent phenomena, including metal-insulator transition, strong Rashaba spin-orbit coupling^[1] (SOC), and electron pairing without superconductivity^[2]. These properties can usually be modified by gating and temperature. Here we introduce an additional knob of mechanical strain through a homemade amplified strain cell, which is equipped with a high-precision capacitance sensor and can continuously tune the LAO/STO interface to a strain as large as 1.5% at 1.5K. Accordingly, we observe a large tunability on carrier density, mobility, spin-orbit coupling, and electron correlations. Further combined with a milli-Kelvin atomic force microscope, our platform is promising to explore strain tunable behaviors in real space and by quantum transport at oxide interfaces.