Layer-by-layer evolution of a two-dimensional electron gas near an oxide interface

We report the momentum-resolved measurement of a two-dimensional electron gas at the LaTiO3=SrTiO3 interface by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Thanks to an advanced sample preparation technique, the orbital character of the conduction electrons and the electronic correlations can be accessed quantitatively as each unit cell layer is added. We find that all of these quantities change dramatically with distance from the interface. These findings open the way to analogousstudies on other heterostructures, which are traditionally a forbidden field for ARPES.