No Arabic abstract
TbMnO$_{3}$ films have been grown under compressive strain on (001)-oriented SrTiO$_{3}$ crystals. They have an orthorhombic structure and display the (001) orientation. With increasing thickness, the structure evolves from a more symmetric (tetragonal) to a less symmetric (bulk-like orthorhombic) structure, while keeping constant the in-plane compression thereby leaving the out-of-plane lattice spacing unchanged. The domain microstructure of the films is also revealed, showing an increasing number of orthorhombic domains as the thickness is decreased: we directly observe ferroelastic domains as narrow as 4nm. The high density of domain walls may explain the induced ferromagnetism observed in the films, while both the decreased anisotropy and the small size of the domains could account for the absence of a ferroelectric spin spiral phase.
We report a study on the thermodynamic stability and structure analysis of the epitaxial BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films grown on YAlO3 (YAO) substrate. First we observe a phase transition of MC-MA-T occurs in thin sample (<60 nm) with an utter tetragonal-like phase (denoted as MII here) with a large c/a ratio (~1.23). Specifically, MII phase transition process refers to the structural evolution from a monoclinic MC structure at room temperature to a monoclinic MA at higher temperature (150oC) and eventually to a presence of nearly tetragonal structure above 275oC. This phase transition is further confirmed by the piezoforce microscopy measurement, which shows the rotation of polarization axis during the phase transition. A systematic study on structural evolution with thickness to elucidate the impact of strain state is performed. We note that the YAO substrate can serve as a felicitous base for growing T-like BFO because this phase stably exists in very thick film. Thick BFO films grown on YAO substrate exhibit a typical morphotropic-phase-boundary-like feature with coexisting multiple phases (MII, MI, and R) and a periodic stripe-like topography. A discrepancy of arrayed stripe morphology in different direction on YAO substrate due to the anisotropic strain suggests a possibility to tune the MPB-like region. Our study provides more insights to understand the strain mediated phase co-existence in multiferroic BFO system.
Magnetite thin fims have been grown epitaxially on ZnO and MgO substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. The film quality was found to be strongly dependent on the oxygen partial pressure during growth. Structural, electronic, and magnetic properties were analyzed utilizing Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED), HArd X-ray PhotoElectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES), Magneto Optical Kerr Effect (MOKE), and X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism (XMCD). Diffraction patterns show clear indication for growth in the (111) direction on ZnO. Vertical structure analysis by HAXPES depth profiling revealed uniform magnetite thin films on both type of substrates. Both, MOKE and XMCD measurements show in-plane easy magnetization with a reduced magnetic moment in case of the films on ZnO.
The influence of the deposition pressure PO2 and substrate temperature TS during the growth of Bi2FeCrO6 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition has been investigated. It is found that the high volatility of Bi makes the deposition very difficult and that the growth of pure Bi2FeCrO6 thin films on SrTiO3 substrates is possible only in a narrow deposition parameter window. We find that the pure Bi2FeCrO6 phase is formed within a narrow window around an oxygen pressure PO2 =1.210-2 mbar and around a substrate temperature TS=680 degC. At lower temperature or higher pressure, Bi7.38Cr0.62O12+x_also called (b*Bi2O3)and Bi2Fe4O9 /Bi2(Fe,Cr)4O9+x phases are detected, while at lower pressure or higher temperature a (Fe,Cr)3O4 phase forms. Some of these secondary phases are not well known and have not been previously studied. We previously reported Fe/Cr cation ordering as the probable origin of the tenfold improvement in magnetization at saturation of our Bi2FeCrO6 film, compared to BiFeO3. Here, we address the effect of the degree of cationic ordering on the magnetic properties of the Bi2FeCrO6 single phase. Polarization measurements at room temperature reveal that our Bi2FeCrO6 films have excellent ferroelectric properties with ferroelectric hysteresis loops exhibiting a remanent polarization as high as 55-60 miroC/cm2 along the pseudocubic (001) direction.
Superconducting epitaxial FeSe0.5Te0.5 thin films were prepared on SrTiO3 (001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The high purity of the phase, the quality of the growth and the epitaxy were studied with different experimental techniques: X-rays diffraction, reflection high energy electron diffraction, scanning tunnelling microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The substrate temperature during the deposition was found to be the main parameter governing sample morphology and superconducting critical temperature. Films obtained in the optimal conditions show an epitaxial growth with c axis perpendicular to the film surface and the a and b axis parallel to the substrates one, without the evidence of any other orientation. Moreover, such films show a metallic behavior over the whole measured temperature range and critical temperature above 17K, which is higher than the target one.
We investigated the ferroelectric properties of strontium titanate (STO) thin films deposited on SrTiO3 (001) substrate with SrRuO3 electrodes. The STO layer was grown coherently on the SrTiO3 substrate without in-plane lattice relaxation, but its out-of-plane lattice constant increased with a decrease in the oxygen pressure during deposition. Using piezoresponse force microscopy and P-V measurements, we showed that our tetragonal STO films possess room-temperature ferroelectricity. We discuss the possible origins of the observed ferroelectricity.