Anil Rajapitamahuni

Examining Graphene Field Effect Sensors for Ferroelectric Thin Film Studies

We examine a prototype graphene field effect sensor for the study of the dielectric constant, pyroelectric coefficient, and ferroelectric polarization of 100-300 nm epitaxial (Ba,Sr)TiO3 thin films. Ferroelectric switching induces hysteresis in the resistivity and carrier density of n-layer graphene (n = 1-5) below 100 K, which competes with an antihysteresis behavior activated by the combined effects of electric field and temperature. We also discuss how the polarization asymmetry and interface charge dynamics affect the electronic properties of graphene.

Nonlinear transport in nanoscale phase separated colossal magnetoresistive oxide thin films

We report a study of the I-V characteristics of 2.5–5.4 nm epitaxial La1−xSrxMnO3 (x = 0.33 and 0.5) and La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 thin films. While La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 films exhibit linear conduction over the entire temperature and magnetic field ranges investigated, we observe a strong correlation between the linearity of the I-V relation and the metal-insulator transition in highly phase separated La0.5Sr0.5MnO3 and La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 films. Linear I-V behavior has been observed in the high temperature paramagnetic insulating phase, and an additional current term proportional to Vα (α = 1.5–2.8) starts to develop below the metal-insulator transition temperature TMI, with the onset temperature of the nonlinearity increasing in magnetic field as TMI increases. The exponent α increases with decreasing temperature and increasing magnetic field and is significantly enhanced in ultrathin films with thicknesses close to that of the electrically dead layer. We attribute the origin of the nonlinearity to transport through the na...

Probing magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 thin films and nanostructures via planar Hall effect

The ability to control and manipulate magnetic anisotropy in the colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) oxide (La,Sr)MnO3 (LSMO) is critical for its implementation in magnetic memory applications. In this work, we employ the planar Hall effect (PHE) as a powerful tool to probe the magnetic anisotropy in LSMO thin films and nanostructures, where the magnetization is too small to be detected by conventional magnetometry techniques. By analyzing the angular- and magnetic field-dependences of the PHE, we deduced an in-plane biaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) energy of ~1.2x105 erg/cm2 in LSMO thin films fully strained on (001) SrTiO3 substrates. Creating nanoscale periodic depth modulation in LSMO establishes a uniaxial anisotropy with substantially enhanced MCA energy density, which is attributed to a high strain gradient sustained in the nanostructure. The energy competition between the biaxial and uniaxial MCA leads to multi-level resistance switching behavior in properly engineered LSMO nanostructures, which can be utilized to design the switching dynamics in magnetic memory devices. Our work points to the critical role of epitaxial strain in determining the MCA in CMR oxides, and provides an effective material strategy for engineering the magnetic properties of LSMO for novel spintronic applications with high thermal stability and high density data storage.

Enhanced Piezoelectric Response in Hybrid Lead Halide Perovskite Thin Films via Interfacing with Ferroelectric PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3

We report a more than 10-fold enhancement of the piezoelectric coefficient d33 of polycrystalline CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) films when interfacing them with ferroelectric PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (PZT). Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) studies reveal [Formula: see text] values of 0.3-0.4 pm/V for MAPbI3 deposited on Au, indium tin oxide, and SrTiO3 surfaces, with small phase angle fluctuating at length scales smaller than the grain size. In sharp contrast, on samples prepared on epitaxial PZT films, we observe large-scale polar domains exhibiting clear, close to 180° PFM phase contrasts, pointing to polar axes along the film normal. By separating the piezoresponse contributions from the MAPbI3 and PZT layers, we extract a significantly higher [Formula: see text] of ∼4 pm/V, which is attributed to the enhanced alignment of the MA molecular dipoles promoted by the unbalanced surface potential of PZT. We also discuss the effect of the interfacial screening layer on the preferred polar direction.