Structural, magnetic, and nanoscale switching properties of BiFeO3 thin films grown by pulsed electron deposition

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the successful epitaxial growth of high-quality BiFeO3 thin films with notable magnetic and ferroelectric properties, highlighting their potential for multifunctional device applications.

Contribution

First report of epitaxial BiFeO3 films grown by pulsed electron deposition with detailed analysis of their structural, magnetic, and nanoscale switching properties.

Findings

Films are epitaxial and single-phase with (001) orientation.

BiFeO3 exhibits antiferromagnetic behavior.

Exchange-enhancement observed with SrRuO3 electrode.

Abstract

We report the epitaxial growth of BiFeO3 by pulsed electron deposition and the resulting crystal quality, magnetic and nanoscale switching properties. X-ray diffraction shows high quality single phase, epitaxial (001) oriented films grown on SrTiO3 (001) substrates. Both field and temperature dependent magnetic properties reveal an antiferromagnetic behavior of the films. For the film with a SrRuO3 bottom electrode, an exchange-enhancement effect between antiferromagnetic BiFeO3 and ferromagnetic SrRuO3 was observed at low temperature. The piezoelectric force microscopy and switching spectroscopy measurements demonstrate the local domain switching process and suggest that the BiFeO3 films are high quality ferroelectrics.