- Cao, Yanwei;
- Wang, Zhen;
- Park, Se Young;
- Yuan, Yakun;
- Liu, Xiaoran;
- Nikitin, Sergey M;
- Akamatsu, Hirofumi;
- Kareev, M;
- Middey, S;
- Meyers, D;
- Thompson, P;
- Ryan, PJ;
- Shafer, Padraic;
- N’Diaye, A;
- Arenholz, E;
- Gopalan, Venkatraman;
- Zhu, Yimei;
- Rabe, Karin M;
- Chakhalian, J
Polar metals, commonly defined by the coexistence of polar crystal structure and metallicity, are thought to be scarce because the long-range electrostatic fields favoring the polar structure are expected to be fully screened by the conduction electrons of a metal. Moreover, reducing from three to two dimensions, it remains an open question whether a polar metal can exist. Here we report on the realization of a room temperature two-dimensional polar metal of the B-site type in tri-color (tri-layer) superlattices BaTiO3/SrTiO3/LaTiO3. A combination of atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy with electron energy-loss spectroscopy, optical second harmonic generation, electrical transport, and first-principles calculations have revealed the microscopic mechanisms of periodic electric polarization, charge distribution, and orbital symmetry. Our results provide a route to creating all-oxide artificial non-centrosymmetric quasi-two-dimensional metals with exotic quantum states including coexisting ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, and superconducting phases.