Zhaoliang Liao

Controlled lateral anisotropy in correlated manganite heterostructures by interface-engineered oxygen octahedral coupling

Controlled in-plane rotation of the magnetic easy axis in manganite heterostructures by tailoring the interface oxygen network could allow the development of correlated oxide-based magnetic tunnelling junctions with non-collinear magnetization, with possible practical applications as miniaturized high-switching-speed magnetic random access memory (MRAM) devices. Here, we demonstrate how to manipulate magnetic and electronic anisotropic properties in manganite heterostructures by engineering the oxygen network on the unit-cell level. The strong oxygen octahedral coupling is found to transfer the octahedral rotation, present in the NdGaO3 (NGO) substrate, to the La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 (LSMO) film in the interface region. This causes an unexpected realignment of the magnetic easy axis along the short axis of the LSMO unit cell as well as the presence of a giant anisotropic transport in these ultrathin LSMO films. As a result we possess control of the lateral magnetic and electronic anisotropies by atomic-scale design of the oxygen octahedral rotation.

Symmetry and lattice mismatch induced strain accommodation near and away from correlated perovskite interfaces

Distinct MnO6 octahedral distortions near and away from the La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/SrTiO3(001) (LSMO/STO) interface are quantified using synchrotron x-ray diffraction and dynamical x-ray diffraction simulations. Three structural regions of stress accommodation throughout the film thickness were resolved: near the LSMO/STO interface, intermediate region farther from the interface, and the main layer away from the interface. The results show that within the first two unit cells stress is accommodated by the suppression of octahedral rotations in the film, leading to the expansion of the c-axis lattice parameter. Farther from the interface film structure acquires octahedral tilts similar to thicker perovskite films under tensile stress, leading to a reduced c-axis parameter. We demonstrate that these regions are related to two different strain coupling mechanisms: symmetry mismatch at the interface and lattice mismatch in the rest of the film. The findings suggest new routes for strain engineering in correlated perovskite heterostructures.

Uniaxial magnetic anisotropy induced low field anomalous anisotropic magnetoresistance in manganite thin films

La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 films with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy were coherently grown on NdGaO3 (110) substrates. The uniaxial anisotropy has strong effect on magnetoresistance (MR). A positive MR was observed when the current is along magnetic easy axis under the current-field perpendicular geometry. In contrast, no positive MR is observed when current is along the magnetic hard axis regardless of the field direction. Our analysis indicates that the anomalous anisotropic MR effect arises from the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy caused stripe domains which contribute to strong anisotropic domain wall resistivity.

Localized Control of Curie Temperature in Perovskite Oxide Film by Capping-layer- induced Octahedral Distortion

With reduced dimensionality, it is often easier to modify the properties of ultrathin films than their bulk counterparts. Strain engineering, usually achieved by choosing appropriate substrates, has been proven effective in controlling the properties of perovskite oxide films. An emerging alternative route for developing new multifunctional perovskite is by modification of the oxygen octahedral structure. Here we report the control of structural oxygen octahedral rotation in ultrathin perovskite SrRuO_{3} films by the deposition of a SrTiO_{3} capping layer, which can be lithographically patterned to achieve local control. Using a scanning Sagnac magnetic microscope, we show an increase in the Curie temperature of SrRuO_{3} due to the suppression octahedral rotations revealed by the synchrotron x-ray diffraction. This capping-layer-based technique may open new possibilities for developing functional oxide materials.

Experimental evidence for anisotropic double exchange interaction driven anisotropic transport in manganite heterostructures

An anisotropic double exchange interaction driven giant transport anisotropy is demonstrated in a canonic double exchange system of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 ultrathin films epitaxially grown on NdGaO3 (110) substrates. The oxygen octahedral coupling at the La2/3Sr1/3MnO3/NdGaO3 interface induces a planar anisotropic Mn-O-Mn bond bending, which causes a significant anisotropic overlap of neighboring Mn orbitals. Due to the anisotropic double exchange interaction, it is found that the conductivity of the La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 film is enhanced when current is applied along the in-plane short crystalline axis. However, the anisotropic behavior is absent in the high temperature paramagnetic phase. Our results demonstrate anisotropic transport in the clean limit where phase separation is absent and the role of anisotropic phase percolation can be excluded.

Metal–insulator-transition engineering by modulation tilt-control in perovskite nickelates for room temperature optical switching

Significance Correlated transition metal oxide perovskites receive a lot of attention due to their unique physical properties, which are largely driven by distortion of the BO6 octahedral network. In bulk, the control of the octahedral network is normally obtained by cation substitutions in a random alloy. Similar to the charge donors in semiconductors, cation substitutions will introduce scattering and disorder. The development of artificial heterostructures offers unprecedented opportunities to lattice engineering to achieve desired properties. In this work, we demonstrated a structural analogue of modulation doping in nickelate heterostructures through the interfacial transfer of tilt patterns. Modulation tilt control was used to remotely control the Ni–O bonds in the compound SmNiO3 and thereby its critical temperature for optimal optical switching application. In transition metal perovskites ABO3, the physical properties are largely driven by the rotations of the BO6 octahedra, which can be tuned in thin films through strain and dimensionality control. However, both approaches have fundamental and practical limitations due to discrete and indirect variations in bond angles, bond lengths, and film symmetry by using commercially available substrates. Here, we introduce modulation tilt control as an approach to tune the ground state of perovskite oxide thin films by acting explicitly on the oxygen octahedra rotation modes—that is, directly on the bond angles. By intercalating the prototype SmNiO3 target material with a tilt-control layer, we cause the system to change the natural amplitude of a given rotation mode without affecting the interactions. In contrast to strain and dimensionality engineering, our method enables a continuous fine-tuning of the materials’ properties. This is achieved through two independent adjustable parameters: the nature of the tilt-control material (through its symmetry, elastic constants, and oxygen rotation angles), and the relative thicknesses of the target and tilt-control materials. As a result, a magnetic and electronic phase diagram can be obtained, normally only accessible by A-site element substitution, within the single SmNiO3 compound. With this unique approach, we successfully adjusted the metal–insulator transition (MIT) to room temperature to fulfill the desired conditions for optical switching applications.