Interfacial engineering manipulation of magnetic anisotropy evolution via orbital reconstruction in low-dimensional manganite superlattices

Abstract

Control of magnetic anisotropy in low-dimensional systems is of paramount importance in terms of their fundamental and technological perspectives. La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) is a ferromagnetic half-metal with a high Curie temperature and many efforts have been made to control its magnetic anisotropy. However, the relationship between the evolution of the magnetic anisotropy orientation and the electronic structure of low-dimensional LSMO still remains poorly understood. Here, the high-quality superlattices comprised of LSMO and SrMnO3 (SMO) layers are synthesized with a compatible structure at the atomic scale. Their magnetic anisotropy is gradually varied from planar to perpendicular by increasing the SMO thickness, and the special fourfold magnetic anisotropy is also observed at the intermediate superlattice thickness. The evolution of the magnetic anisotropy in these systems is confirmed by the electronic transport and magnetic measurements. Moreover, X-ray linear dichroism measurements and first-principles calculations reveal the interfacial orbital reconstruction with the in-plane to out-of-plane magnetic reorientation transition. Therefore, a new microscopic method for magnetic anisotropy manipulation is developed in the present study, enabling discovery of novel phenomena as well as control of the magnetic properties.