S. G. E. te Velthuis

Metal-Insulator Transition and Its Relation to Magnetic Structure in (LaMnO3)2n/(SrMnO3)n Superlattices

Superlattices of (LaMnO3){2n}/(SrMnO3){n} (1<or=n<or=5), composed of the gapped insulators LaMnO3 and SrMnO3, undergo a metal-insulator transition as a function of n, being metallic for n<or=2 and insulating for n>or=3. Measurements of transport, magnetization, and polarized neutron reflectivity reveal that the ferromagnetism is relatively uniform in the metallic state, and is strongly modulated in the insulating state, being high in LaMnO3 and suppressed in SrMnO3. The modulation is consistent with a Mott transition driven by the proximity between the (LaMnO3)/(SrMnO3) interfaces. The insulating state for n>or=3 obeys variable range hopping at low temperatures. We suggest that this is due to states at the Fermi level that emerge at the (LaMnO3)/(SrMnO3) interfaces and are localized by disorder.

Enhanced ordering temperatures in antiferromagnetic manganite superlattices

The disorder inherent to doping by cation substitution in the complex oxides can have profound effects on collective-ordered states. Here, we demonstrate that cation-site ordering achieved through digital-synthesis techniques can dramatically enhance the antiferromagnetic ordering temperatures of manganite films. Cation-ordered (LaMnO3)m/(SrMnO3)2m superlattices show Néel temperatures (TN) that are the highest of any La(1-x)Sr(x)MnO3 compound, approximately 70 K greater than compositionally equivalent randomly doped La(1/3)Sr(2/3)MnO3. The antiferromagnetic order is A-type, consisting of in-plane double-exchange-mediated ferromagnetic sheets coupled antiferromagnetically along the out-of-plane direction. Through synchrotron X-ray scattering, we have discovered an in-plane structural modulation that reduces the charge itinerancy and hence the ordering temperature within the ferromagnetic sheets, thereby limiting TN. This modulation is mitigated and driven to long wavelengths by cation ordering, enabling the higher TN values of the superlattices. These results provide insight into how cation-site ordering can enhance cooperative behaviour in oxides through subtle structural phenomena.

Reversible Control of Co Magnetism by Voltage-Induced Oxidation

We demonstrate that magnetic properties of ultrathin Co films adjacent to Gd2O3 gate oxides can be directly manipulated by voltage. The Co films can be reversibly changed from an optimally oxidized state with a strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy to a metallic state with an in-plane magnetic anisotropy or to an oxidized state with nearly zero magnetization, depending on the polarity and time duration of the applied electric fields. Consequently, an unprecedentedly large change of magnetic anisotropy energy up to 0.73 erg/cm(2) has been realized in a nonvolatile manner using gate voltages of only a few volts. These results open a new route to achieve ultralow energy magnetization manipulation in spintronic devices.

Training effects and the microscopic magnetic structure of exchange biased Co/CoO bilayers

Exchange bias of a partially oxidized thin film of ferromagnetic Co was studied by magnetization measurements and polarized neutron reflectivity (PNR). The magnetization curve shows strong effects of training with cycling of the magnetic field. Reflectivity measurements with the field parallel to the cooling field showed the onset of spin-dependent diffuse scattering—off the specular reflection—after a training cycle. Such scattering, of the Yoneda type, is due to misaligned Co domains possibly close to the Co/CoO interface. Subjecting the field cooled Co/CoO pair to a field perpendicular to the cooling field causes a rotation of the magnetization. The PNR measurements confirmed earlier susceptibility studies by indicating that the rotation of the magnetization is reversible in fields up to 400 Oe. The rotation of the magnetization of Co is uniform across the film thickness.

Ferromagnetic domain distribution in thin films during magnetization reversal

It is shown that polarized neutron reflectometry can determine in a model-free way not only the mean magnetization of a ferromagnetic thin film at any point of a hysteresis cycle, but also the mean-square dispersion of the magnetization vectors of its lateral domains. This technique is applied to elucidate the mechanism of magnetization reversal of an exchange-biased Co/CoO bilayer. The reversal process above the blocking temperature

Combining of neutron spin echo and reflectivity: a new technique for probing surface and interface order

{T}_{b}

Magnetically asymmetric interfaces in a LaMnO 3 / SrMnO 3 superlattice due to structural asymmetries

is governed by uniaxial domain switching, while below

Annealing-dependent magnetic depth profile in Ga 1 − x Mn x As

{T}_{b}

Magnetic configurations in exchange-biased double superlattices.

the reversal of magnetization for the trained sample takes place with substantial domain rotation.

Domain formation in exchange biased Co/CoO bilayers

The recently proposed spin-echo resolved grazing-incidence scattering (SERGIS) uses the well-known neutron spin echo effect for encoding the momentum transfer in reflectometry. By the application of tilted magnetic-field borders, SERGIS measures the scattering angle in grazing incidence experiments in absence of any geometrical beam-defining tool, such as slits. The main difficulty in such set-ups is the realization of geometrically flat field borders. The possibility of the application of neutron resonance spin echo (NRSE) for such a purpose is discussed, where the field borders are defined by current sheets. Prototype SERGIS experiments performed on holographically made optical gratings at a NRSE triple-axis spectrometer are shown.