Abstract
The strong coupling between antiferromagnetism and ferroelectricity at room temperature found in BiFeO3 generates high expectations for the design and development of technological devices with novel functionalities. However, the multi-domain nature of the material tends to nullify the properties of interest and complicates the thorough understanding of the mechanisms that are responsible for those properties. Here we report the realization of a BiFeO3 material in thin film form with single-domain behaviour in both its magnetism and ferroelectricity: the entire film shows its antiferromagnetic axis aligned along the crystallographic b axis and its ferroelectric polarization along the c axis. With this we are able to reveal that the canted ferromagnetic moment due to the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction is parallel to the a axis. Furthermore, by fabricating a Co/BiFeO3 heterostructure, we demonstrate that the ferromagnetic moment of the Co film does couple directly to the canted moment of BiFeO3.
Highlights
The strong coupling between antiferromagnetism and ferroelectricity at room temperature found in BiFeO3 generates high expectations for the design and development of technological devices with novel functionalities
The magnetic properties of BFO film were studied by polarization-dependent soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Fe-L2,3 edges
What is the mechanism for driving P parallel to the c axis and the AFM axis along the b axis in the 40 Å BFO thin film grown on NGO substrate? We have found four ingredients to achieve the single-domain state: (1) in-plane compressive strain, (2) in-plane lattice anisotropy, (3) bottom electrode and (4) limited film thickness
Summary
The strong coupling between antiferromagnetism and ferroelectricity at room temperature found in BiFeO3 generates high expectations for the design and development of technological devices with novel functionalities. We report the realization of a BiFeO3 material in thin film form with single-domain behaviour in both its magnetism and ferroelectricity: the entire film shows its antiferromagnetic axis aligned along the crystallographic b axis and its ferroelectric polarization along the c axis. With this we are able to reveal that the canted ferromagnetic moment due to the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction is parallel to the a axis. The realization of the single-domain multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films provides insights into the fundamental interactions of BiFeO3 and opens a promising path for engineering novel functional devices
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