Strong exchange bias with the (110)-oriented BiFeO3 films

Abstract

Epitaxial BiFeO3 films were grown on the (001)-, (110)-, and (111)-oriented SrTiO3 substrates. Using CoFe as ferromagnetic layer, we have shown that both large exchange bias and coercive field enhancement can be observed in the (001)- and (110)-oriented BiFeO3. But no exchange bias was found in the (111)-oriented BiFeO3 films, which can be understood by the lack of either 109° or 71° ferroelectric domain walls and the preservation of the spatial modulated cycloid spin structure. The observation of large exchange bias field with the (110)-oriented BiFeO3 film may lead to an alternative choice towards reversible control exchange bias by electrical field.