Effect of oxygen vacancy on structural, electronic and magnetic properties of La-based oxide interfaces

Disorder, primarily in the form of oxygen vacancies, cation stoichiometry and atomic interdiffusion, appear to play vital roles in the electronic and transport properties of the metallic electron liquid at the oxide hetero-interfaces. Antisite disorder is also understood to be a key player in this context. In order to delineate the roles of two of these key factors, we have investigated the effect of oxygen vacancy on the antisite disorder, at a number of interfaces separating two La-based transition metal oxides, using density functional theory. Oxygen vacancy is found to suppress the antisite disorder in some heterostructures and thereby stabilizes the ordered structure, while in some others it tends to drive the disorder. Thus by controlling the oxygen partial pressure during the growth, it is possible to engineer the antisite disorder in many oxide heretostructures.