ON the Nature of Ionic Liquid Gating of La2−xSrxCuO4

Ionic liquids have recently been used as means of modulating the charge carrier properties of cuprates. The mechanism behind it, however, is still a matter of debate. In this paper we report experiments on ionic liquid gated ultrathin La2−xSrxCuO4 films. Our results show that the electrostatic part of gating has limited influence in the conductance of the cuprate in the gate voltage range of 0 to − 2 V. A non-electrostatic mechanism takes over for gate voltages below − 2 V. This mechanism most likely changes the oxygen concentration of the film. The results presented are in line with previous X-ray based studies on ionic liquid gating induced oxygenation of the cuprate materials YBa2Cu3O7−x and La2−xSrxCuO4.