Strain engineering of the magnetic anisotropy and magnetic moment in NdFeO3 epitaxial thin films

TL;DR

This study demonstrates how strain engineering in NdFeO3 epitaxial thin films can tune magnetic anisotropy and magnetic moments, revealing a critical thickness and strain-dependent magnetic phase behaviors.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the relationship between strain, structural modifications, and magnetic properties in NdFeO3 thin films using advanced characterization techniques.

Findings

Strong magnetic anisotropy below 54 nm thickness

Continuous tuning of magnetization with strain

Strain-induced structural changes affect magnetic phases

Abstract

Strain engineering is a powerful mean for tuning the various functionalities of ABO3 perovskite oxide thin films. Rare-earth orthoferrite RFeO3 materials such as NdFeO3 (NFO) are of prime interest because of their intriguing magnetic properties as well as their technological potential applications especially as thin films. Here, using a large set of complementary and advanced techniques, we show that NFO epitaxial thin films, successfully grown by pulsed laser deposition on (001)-SrTiO3, show a strong magnetic anisotropy below a critical thickness tc of 54 nm, associated with the occurrence of structural modifications related to symmetry and domain pattern changes. By varying the tensile misfit strain through the decrease of film thickness below tc, the amplitudes of in and out-of-plane magnetization can be continuously tuned while their ratio stays constant. Furthermore, different low-temperature magnetic behaviors are evidenced for strained and relaxed films, suggesting that the strain-induced structural state impacts the magnetic phase stability.