Confined Magnetization at the Sublattice-Matched Ruthenium Oxide Heterointerface

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the creation of a highly crystalline, sublattice-matched heterointerface between SrRuO3 and RuO2, revealing interfacial magnetization and enhanced anomalous Hall effects relevant for spintronic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel epitaxial growth method for a sharp, lattice-matched heterointerface between SrRuO3 and RuO2, and analyzes their magnetic interactions and transport properties.

Findings

Interfacial RuO2 layer exhibits a nonzero magnetic moment.

Enhanced anomalous Hall effect observed at low temperatures.

Nonlinear AHE behavior peaks at specific SrRuO3 thickness.

Abstract

Creating a heterostructure by combining two magnetically and structurally distinct ruthenium oxides is a crucial approach for investigating their emergent magnetic states and interactions. Previously, research has predominantly concentrated on the intrinsic properties of the ferromagnet SrRuO3 and recently discovered altermagnet RuO2 solely. Here, we engineered an ultrasharp sublattice-matched heterointerface using pseudo-cubic SrRuO3 and rutile RuO2, conducting an in-depth analysis of their spin interactions. Structurally, to accommodate the lattice symmetry mismatch, the inverted RuO2 layer undergoes an in-plane rotation of 18 degrees during epitaxial growth on SrRuO3 layer, resulting in an interesting and rotational interface with perfect crystallinity and negligible chemical intermixing. Performance-wise, the interfacial layer of 6 nm in RuO2 adjacent to SrRuO3 exhibits a nonzero magnetic moment, contributing to an enhanced anomalous Hall effect (AHE) at low temperatures. Furthermore, our observations indicate that, in contrast to SrRuO3 single layers, the AHE of [(RuO2)15/(SrRuO3)n] heterostructures shows nonlinear behavior and reaches its maximum when the SrRuO3 thickness reaches tens of nm. These results suggest that the interfacial magnetic interaction surpasses that of all-perovskite oxides (~5-unit cells). This study underscores the significance and potential applications of magnetic interactions based on the crystallographic asymmetric interfaces in the design of spintronic devices.