Daniele Preziosi

Crossover of conduction mechanism in Sr2IrO4 epitaxial thin films

High quality epitaxial Sr2IrO4 thin films with various thicknesses (9–300 nm) have been grown on SrTiO3 (001) substrates and their electric transport properties have been investigated. All samples showed the expected insulating behavior with a strong resistivity dependence on film thickness, which can be as large as three orders of magnitude at low temperature. A close examination of the transport data revealed interesting crossover behaviors for the conduction mechanism upon variation of thickness and temperature. While Mott variable range hopping (VRH) dominated the transport for films thinner than 85 nm, high temperature (>200 K) thermal activation behavior was observed for films with large thickness (≥85 nm), which was followed by a crossover from Mott to Efros-Shklovskii (ES) VRH in the low temperature range. This low temperature crossover from Mott to ES VRH indicates the presence of a Coulomb gap (∼3 meV). Our results demonstrate the competing and tunable conduction in Sr2IrO4 thin films, which in turn would be helpful for understanding the insulating nature related to strong spin-orbital-coupling of the 5d iridates.

Electric-Field Control of the Orbital Occupancy and Magnetic Moment of a Transition-Metal Oxide.

By using soft-x-ray linear and magnetic dichroism on La_{0.825}Sr_{0.175}MnO_{3}/PbZr_{0.2}Ti_{0.8}O_{3} ferromagnetic-ferroelectric heterostructures we demonstrate a nonvolatile modulation of the Mn 3d orbital anisotropy and magnetic moment. X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Mn L_{2,3} edges shows that the ferroelectric polarization direction modifies the carrier density, the spin moment, and the orbital splitting of t_{2g} and e_{g} Mn 3d states. These results are consistent with polar distortions of the oxygen octahedra surrounding the Mn ions induced by the switching of the ferroelectric polarization.

Electronic transport in (La,Sr)MnO3-ferroelectric-(La,Sr)MnO3 epitaxial structures

The leakage current in all oxide epitaxial (La,Sr)MnO3-ferroelectric-(La,Sr)MnO3 structures, where the ferroelectric layer is either BaTiO3 or Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3, was analyzed on a broad range of temperatures and for different thicknesses of the ferroelectric layer. It was found that, although the structures are nominally symmetric, the current-voltage (I–V) characteristics are asymmetric. The leakage current depends strongly on the thicknesses of the ferroelectric layer, on temperature and on the polarity of the applied voltage. Simple conduction mechanisms such as space charge limited currents or thermionic emission cannot explain in the same time the voltage, temperature, and thickness dependence of the experimentally measured leakage currents. A combination between interface limited charge injection and bulk controlled drift-diffusion (through hopping in the case of BTO and through band mobility in the case of PZT) is qualitatively explaining the experimental I–V characteristics.

Multiferroic PbZrxTi1-xO3/Fe3O4 epitaxial sub-micron sized structures

Large range well ordered epitaxial ferrimagnetic nominally Fe3O4 structures were fabricated by pulsed-laser deposition and embedded in ferroelectric PbZrxTi1−xO3 (x = 0.2, 0.52) epitaxial films. Magnetite dots were investigated by magnetic force microscopy and exhibited magnetic domain contrast at room temperature (RT). Embedding ferroelectric PbZrxTi1−xO3 layers exhibit remnant polarization values close to the values of single epitaxial layers. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated the epitaxial growth of the composites and the formation of the ferrimagnetic and ferroelectric phases. Physical and structural properties of these composites recommend them for investigations of stress mediated magneto-electric coupling at room temperature.

Microstructure and properties of epitaxial Sr 2 FeMoO 6 films containing SrMoO 4 precipitates

Thin films of Sr2FeMoO6 (SFMO) were grown by pulsed laser deposition in non-optimized argon ambient pressures. The films were found to contain a high number of precipitates of foreign phases. The nature and microstructure of these phases were investigated in detail by high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). We found out that the dominant foreign phase embedded in the SFMO film matrix was SrMoO4 (SMO). Through STEM and XRD analysis, we determined that the SMO phase grows epitaxially with respect to the surrounding SFMO matrix and has a fairly good crystallinity. Although the SFMO films include many foreign precipitates, they still exhibit good conducting properties and moderate magnetization values. Tuning the growth of the SMO phase on top of SFMO films to obtain a natural tunnel barrier might pave the way for future applications of SFMO in spintronic devices.

Dual gate control of bulk transport and magnetism in the spin-orbit insulator Sr2IrO4

The 5d iridates have been the subject of much recent attention due to the predictions of a large array of novel electronic phases driven by twisting strong spin-orbit coupling and Hubbard correlation. As a prototype, the single layered perovskite Sr2IrO4 was first revealed to host a Jeff=1/2 Mott insulating state. In this material, the approximate energy scale of a variety of interactions, involving spin-orbit coupling, magnetic exchange interaction, and the Mott gap, allows close coupling among the corresponding physical excitations, opening the possibility of cross control of the physical properties. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the effective gate control of both the transport and magnetism in a Sr2IrO4-based field effect transistor using an ionic liquid dielectric. This approach could go beyond the surface-limited field effect seen in conventional transistors, reflecting the unique aspect of the Jeff=1/2 state. The simultaneous modulation of conduction and magnetism confirms the proposed intimate coupling of charge, orbital, and spin degrees of freedom in this oxide. These phenomena are probably related to an enhanced deviation from the ideal Jeff=1/2 state due to the gate-promoted conduction. The present work would have important implications in modelling the unusual physics enabled by strong spin-orbit coupling, and provides a new route to explore those emergent quantum phases in iridates.

Origin of the orbital and spin ordering in rare-earth titanates

Rare-earth titanates RTiO

In-plane tunnelling field-effect transistor integrated on Silicon

_3

Direct Mapping of Phase Separation across the Metal–Insulator Transition of NdNiO3

are Mott insulators displaying a rich physical behavior, featuring most notably orbital and spin orders in their ground state. The origin of their ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition as a function of the size of the rare-earth however remains debated. Here we show on the basis of symmetry analysis and first-principles calculations that although rare-earth titanates are nominally Jahn-Teller active, the Jahn-Teller distortion is negligible and irrelevant for the description of the ground state properties. At the same time, we demonstrate that the combination of two antipolar motions produces an effective Jahn-Teller-like motion which is the key of the varying spin-orbital orders appearing in titanates. Thus, titanates are prototypical examples illustrating how a subtle interplay between several lattice distortions commonly appearing in perovskites can produce orbital orderings and insulating phases irrespective of proper Jahn-Teller motions.

Interface-mediated ferroelectric patterning and Mn valency in nano-structured PbTiO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3

Silicon has persevered as the primary substrate of microelectronics during last decades. During last years, it has been gradually embracing the integration of ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism. The successful incorporation of these two functionalities to silicon has delivered the desired non-volatility via charge-effects and giant magneto-resistance. On the other hand, there has been a numerous demonstrations of the so-called magnetoelectric effect (coupling between ferroelectric and ferromagnetic order) using nearly-perfect heterostructures. However, the scrutiny of the ingredients that lead to magnetoelectric coupling, namely magnetic moment and a conducting channel, does not necessarily require structural perfection. In this work, we circumvent the stringent requirements for epilayers while preserving the magnetoelectric functionality in a silicon-integrated device. Additionally, we have identified an in-plane tunnelling mechanism which responds to a vertical electric field. This genuine electroresistance effect is distinct from known resistive-switching or tunnel electro resistance.