  We consider a model for the two-dimensional electron gas formed at the
interface of oxide heterostructures, which includes a Rashba spin-orbit
coupling proportional to the electric field perpendicular to the interface.
Based on the standard mechanism of polarity catastrophe, we assume that the
electric field is proportional to the electron density. Under these simple and
general assumptions, we show that a phase separation instability occurs for
realistic values of the spin-orbit coupling and of the band parameters. This
could provide an intrinsic mechanism for the recently observed inhomogeneous
phases at the LaAlO_3/SrTiO_3 or LaTiO_3/SrTiO_3 interfaces.
