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Giant superconductivity-induced modulation of the ferromagnetic magnetization in a cuprate–manganite superlattice

Nature Materials volume 8, pages 315–319 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Artificial multilayers offer unique opportunities for combining materials with antagonistic orders such as superconductivity and ferromagnetism and thus to realize novel quantum states1,2. In particular, oxide multilayers enable the utilization of the high superconducting transition temperature of the cuprates and the versatile magnetic properties of the colossal-magnetoresistance manganites 3,4,5,6. However, apart from exploratory work7,8,9,10, the in-depth investigation of their unusual properties has only just begun11,12,13,14,15. Here we present neutron reflectometry measurements of a [Y0.6Pr0.4Ba2Cu3O7 (10 nm)/La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 (10 nm)]10 superlattice, which reveal a surprisingly large superconductivity-induced modulation of the vertical ferromagnetic magnetization profile. Most surprisingly, this modulation seems to involve the density rather than the orientation of the magnetization and is highly susceptible to the strain, which is transmitted from the SrTiO3 substrate. We outline a possible explanation of this unusual superconductivity-induced phenomenon in terms of a phase separation between ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic nanodomains in the La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 layers.

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Figure 1: Temperature- and pressure-dependent magnetization data.
Figure 2: Unpolarized neutron reflectivity spectra and their modelling.
Figure 3: Polarized neutron reflectometry spectra and temperature dependence of the fractional-order- and first-order superlattice Bragg peaks.
Figure 4: Influence of the uniaxial pressure on the fractional-order Bragg peak and the structural and magnetic domains.

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Acknowledgements

This work is based on experiments carried out at the Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ and the Swiss light source SLS at Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland. Some of the measurements were also made at the neutron reactor of the Institute Laue Langevin, France. We acknowledge support from M. Wolff at the Institute Laue Langevin. We appreciate stimulating discussions with D. Baeriswyl, G. Khaliullin and A.F. Volkov. Work at the University of Fribourg was funded by the Schweizerische Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaften through grants 200020-119784 and 206021-113057 and by the NCCR program MANEP.

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Author notes

  1. H. Bouyanfif & A. J. Drew

    Present address: Present addresses: Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée, Université de Picadie Jules Verne, 80000 Amiens, France (H.B.); Queen Mary University of London, Department of Physics, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK (A.J.D.),

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department and Fribourg Center for Nanomaterials (FriMat), Fribourg University, Chemin du Musée 3, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland

    J. Hoppler, V. K. Malik, H. Bouyanfif, A. J. Drew, M. Rössle & C. Bernhard

  2. Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, ETH Zurich & Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland

    J. Hoppler, J. Stahn & Ch. Niedermayer

  3. Condensed Matter Theory Group, CPMOH, UMR 5798, Université Bordeaux I, F-33405 Talence Cedex, France

    A. Buzdin

  4. Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany

    G. Cristiani, H.-U. Habermeier & B. Keimer

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Contributions

J.H., J.S., Ch.N. and C.B. carried out the neutron experiments, J.H., J.S., Ch.N., A.D., A.B. and C.B. analysed and interpreted the data and V.M., H.B., M.R., G.C., H.H. and B.K. prepared and characterized the samples.

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Correspondence to J. Stahn or C. Bernhard.

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Hoppler, J., Stahn, J., Niedermayer, C. et al. Giant superconductivity-induced modulation of the ferromagnetic magnetization in a cuprate–manganite superlattice. Nature Mater 8, 315–319 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2383

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