Francis Bern

Multiferroic BaTiO3–BiFeO3 composite thin films and multilayers: strain engineering and magnetoelectric coupling

BiFeO3 and BaTiO3 were used to grow homogeneous composite thin films and multilayer heterostructures with 15 double layers by pulsed laser deposition. The perpendicular strain of the films was tuned by employing different substrate materials, i.e. SrTiO3(0 0 1), MgO(0 0 1) and MgAl2O4(0 0 1). Multiferroic properties have been measured in a temperature range from room temperature down to 2 K. The composite films show a high ferroelectric saturation polarization of more than 70 µ Cc m −2 . The multilayers show the highest magnetization of 2.3 emu cm −3 , due to interface magnetic moments and exchange coupling of the included weak ferromagnetic phases. The magnetoelectric coupling of the BaTiO3–BiFeO3 films was investigated by two methods. While the ferroelectric hysteresis loops in magnetic fields up to 8 T show only minor changes, a direct longitudinal AC method yields a magnetoelectric coefficient αME = ∂E/∂H of 20.75 V cm −1 Oe −1 with a low µ0HDC of 0.25 T for the 67% BaTiO3–33% BiFeO3 composite film at 300 K. This value is close to the highest reported in the literature.

Revealing the origin of the vertical hysteresis loop shifts in an exchange biased Co/YMnO3 bilayer.

We have investigated exchange bias effects in bilayers composed of the antiferromagnetic o-YMnO(3) and ferromagnetic Co thin film by means of SQUID magnetometry, magnetoresistance, anisotropic magnetoresistance and the planar Hall effect. The magnetization and magneto-transport properties show pronounced asymmetries in the field and magnetization axes of the field hysteresis loops. Both exchange bias parameters, the exchange bias field H(E)(T) as well as the magnetization shift M(E)(T), vanish around the Néel temperature T(N) =/~ 45 K. We show that the magnetization shift M(E)(T) is also measured by a shift in the anisotropic magnetoresistance and planar Hall resistance having a similar temperature dependence as the one obtained from magnetization measurements. Because the o-YMnO(3) film is highly insulating, our results demonstrate that the M(E)(T) shift originates at the interface within the ferromagnetic Co layer. To show that the main results obtained are general and not because of some special characteristics of the o-YMO(3) layer, similar measurements were done in Co/CoO micro-wires. The transport and magnetization characterization of the micro-wires supports the main conclusion that these effects are related to the response of the ferromagnetic Co layer at the interface.

Luminescence and electrical properties of single ZnO/MgO core/shell nanowires

To neutralise the influence of the surface of ZnO nanowires for photonics and optoelectronic applications, we have covered them with insulating MgO film and individually contacted them for electrical characterisation. We show that such a metal-insulator-semiconductor-type nanodevice exhibits a high diode ideality factor of 3.4 below 1 V. MgO shell passivates ZnO surface states and provides confining barriers to electrons and holes within the ZnO core, favouring excitonic ultraviolet radiative recombination, while suppressing defect-related luminescence in the visible and improving electrical conductivity. The results indicate the potential use of ZnO/MgO nanowires as a convenient building block for nano-optoelectronic devices.

Exotic exchange bias at epitaxial ferroelectric-ferromagnetic interfaces

Multiferroics in spintronics have opened up opportunities for future technological developments, particularly in the field of ferroelectric (FE)-ferromagnetic (FM) oxide interfaces with functionalities. We find strong exchange bias shifts (up to 84 Oe) upon field cooling in metal-oxide (Fe/BaTiO3) films combining FM and FE layers. The saturation magnetic moment of the FM layer is also significantly higher than in bulk (3.0 ± 0.2 μB/atom) and the reversal mechanism occurs via a domain nucleation process. X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Fe K-edge and Ba L3-edge indicate presence of few monolayers of antiferromagnetic FeO at the interface without the formation of any BaFeO3 layer. Polarized neutron reflectometry corroborates with our magnetization data as we perform depth profiling of the magnetic and structural densities in these bilayers. Our first principles density functional calculations support the formation of antiferromagnetic FeO layers at the interface along with an enhancement of Fe magnetic ...

Atomic-scale engineering of ferroelectric-ferromagnetic interfaces of epitaxial perovskite films for functional properties

Besides epitaxial mismatch that can be accommodated by lattice distortions and/or octahedral rotations, ferroelectric-ferromagnetic interfaces are affected by symmetry mismatch and subsequent magnetic ordering. Here, we have investigated La0.67 Sr0.33 MnO3 (LSMO) samples with varying underlying unit cells (uc) of BaTiO3 (BTO) layer on (001) and (110) oriented substrates in order to elucidate the role of symmetry mismatch. Lattice mismatch for 3 uc of BTO and symmetry mismatch for 10 uc of BTO, both associated with local MnO6 octahedral distortions of the (001) LSMO within the first few uc, are revealed by scanning transmission electron microscopy. Interestingly, we find exchange bias along the in-plane [110]/[100] directions only for the (001) oriented samples. Polarized neutron reflectivity measurements confirm the existence of a layer with zero net moment only within (001) oriented samples. First principle density functional calculations show that even though the bulk ground state of LSMO is ferromagnetic, a large lattice constant together with an excess of La can stabilize an antiferromagnetic LaMnO3-type phase at the interface region and explain the experimentally observed exchange bias. Atomic scale tuning of MnO6 octahedra can thus be made possible via symmetry mismatch at heteroepitaxial interfaces. This aspect can act as a vital parameter for structure-driven control of physical properties.

Publisher Correction: Atomic-scale engineering of ferroelectric-ferromagnetic interfaces of epitaxial perovskite films for functional properties

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Study of non-linear Hall effect in nitrogen-grown ZnO microstructure and the effect of H+-implantation

We report magnetotransport studies on microstructured ZnO film grown by pulsed laser deposition in N2 atmosphere on a-plane Al2O3 substrates and the effect of low energy H+-implantation. Non-linearity has been found in the magnetic field dependent Hall resistance, which decreases with temperature. We explain this effect with a two-band model assuming the conduction through two different parallel channels having different types of charge carriers. Reduced non-linearity after H+-implantation in the grown film is due to the shallow-donor effect of hydrogen giving rise to an increment in the electron density, reducing the effect of the other channel.