Abstract
Multiferroic La-doped BiFeO3 thin films have been prepared by a sol-gel plus spin-coating process, and the local magnetoelectric coupling effect has been investigated by the magnetic-field-assisted scanning probe microscopy connected with a ferroelectric analyzer. The local ferroelectric polarization response to external magnetic fields is observed and a so-called optimized magnetic field of ~40 Oe is obtained, at which the ferroelectric polarization reaches the maximum. Moreover, we carry out the magnetic-field-dependent surface conductivity measurements and illustrate the origin of local magnetoresistance in the La-doped BiFeO3 thin films, which is closely related to the local ferroelectric polarization response to external magnetic fields. This work not only provides a useful technique to characterize the local magnetoelectric coupling for a wide range of multiferroic materials but also is significant for deeply understanding the local multiferroic behaviors in the BiFeO3-based systems.
Highlights
Multiferroic materials refer to a class of materials which possess the intrinsic coupling of two or more ferroic orders [1, 2]
The local characterization of magnetoelectric coupling in such multiferroic thin films is still challenging and majority of previous works focus on the macroscopic magnetoelectric effect, while little attention has been paid to its microstructural evolution under either electric or magnetic fields [16, 17]
By means of the magnetic-field-assisted scanning probe microscopy connected with an external ferroelectric tester, we systematically investigate the local magnetoelectric coupling behaviors in the multiferroic La-doped BiFeO3 polycrystalline thin films
Summary
Multiferroic materials refer to a class of materials which possess the intrinsic coupling of two or more ferroic orders (e.g., ferroelectricity, ferroelasticity, and ferromagnetism) [1, 2]. In single-phase multiferroic materials reported BiFeO3 (BFO, with a perovskite ABO3 structure) [9] is an ideal candidate which shows unambiguous room-. In spite of such favorable features, the practical applications of BFO are still limited for several reasons such as formation of secondary phase during preparation, weak magnetoelectric coupling coefficients, and high leakage current [10]. These drawbacks can be overcome by the epitaxial constraints or chemical doping. It is more important to characterize the local magnetoelectric coupling at
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