Misfit Strain Induced Giant Magnetoelectric Coupling in Thin Ferroic Films

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that misfit strain from substrate mismatch significantly enhances magnetoelectric coupling in thin ferroic films, leading to tunable magnetic and electric phase transitions.

Contribution

It reveals how misfit strain induces giant magnetoelectric coupling and alters phase diagrams in ferroic films, providing insights for property tailoring.

Findings

Misfit strain increases quadratic magnetoelectric coupling.

Strain causes phase transformations in ferroic films.

Thickness effects induce paramagnetic and paraelectric phases.

Abstract

We show that misfit strain originated from the film-substrate lattice mismatch strongly increases the value of the quadratic magnetoelectric coupling. The giant magnetoelectric coupling, size effects and misfit strain cause strong changes of ferroic films phase diagrams at zero external magnetic and electric fields, in particular, the transformation of antiferromagnetic phase into ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic ones for compressive or tensile misfit strains correspondingly as well as thickness induced paramagnetic or/and paraelectric phases appearance. Ferromagnetism appearance and magnetoelectric coupling increase in thin ferroelectric-antiferromagnetic films is in agreement with available experimental data and opens the way for tailoring of ferroic films magnetic and electric properties.