Breaking electron pairs in the pseudogap regime of SmTiO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$/SmTiO$_3$ quantum wells

Xinyi Wu, Lu Chen, Jianan Li, Megan Briggeman, Patrick B. Marshall, Susanne Stemmer, Patrick Irvin, Jeremy Levy

Published 2023-05-05Version 1

The strongly correlated two-dimensional electron liquid within SmTiO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$/SmTiO$_3$ quantum well structures exhibits a pseudogap phase when the quantum well width is sufficiently narrow. Using low-temperature transport and optical experiments that drive the quantum-well system out of equilibrium, we find evidence of mobile, long-lived, negatively-charged quasiparticles, consistent with the idea that the pseudogap phase arises from strongly bound electron pairs.