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Electric-field-induced spin disorder-to-order transition near a multiferroic triple phase point

Nature Physics volume 13, pages 189–196 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

The emergence of a triple phase point in a two-dimensional parameter space (such as pressure and temperature) can offer unforeseen opportunities for the coupling of two seemingly independent order parameters. On the basis of this, we demonstrate the electric control of magnetic order by manipulating chemical pressure: lanthanum substitution in the antiferromagnetic ferroelectric BiFeO3. Our demonstration relies on the finding that a multiferroic triple phase point of a single spin-disordered phase and two spin-ordered phases emerges near room temperature in Bi0.9La0.1FeO3 ferroelectric thin films. By using spatially resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy, we provide direct evidence that the electric poling of a particular region of the compound near the triple phase point results in an antiferromagnetic phase while adjacent unpoled regions remain magnetically disordered, opening a promising avenue for magnetoelectric applications at room temperature.

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Figure 1: Proposed phase diagram of BLFO thin films.
Figure 2: Phenomenological theory describing the multiferroic phases and competing natures of the BLFO system.
Figure 3: Spectroscopic evidence for the electric-field-induced magnetic phase switching in a Bi0.9La0.1FeO3 thin film at room temperature.
Figure 4: Reversible electric switching of the magnetic order.
Figure 5: STEM/EELS measurement for checking the chemical stability in the electrically formed area.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2013S1A2A2035418 and NRF-2014R1A2A2A01005979) and the NRF via the Center for Quantum Coherence in Condensed Matter (2016R1A5A1008184). Soft X-ray studies were carried out at the SSRL, a Directorate of SLAC and an Office of Science User Facility operated for the US DOE Office of Science by Stanford University. J.-S.L. acknowledges partial support by the Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, under contract DE-AC02-76SF00515. K.-T.K. acknowledges Study for Nano Scale Optomaterials and Complex Phase Materials (2016K1A4A4A01922028) through NRF funded by MSIP of Korea. Y.H.J. was supported by the NRF of Korea (SRC-2011-0030786 and 2015R1D1A1A02062239). This work was supported by the Global Frontier R&D Program on Center for Hybrid Interface Materials (HIM) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (2013M3A6B1078872).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea

    Byung-Kweon Jang, Jin Hong Lee, Kanghyun Chu, Kwang-Eun Kim, Yong-Jin Kim, Kyungrok Kang, Han-Byul Jang & Chan-Ho Yang

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia

    Pankaj Sharma & Jan Seidel

  3. Department of Materials Modeling and Characterization, Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), Changwon, Gyeongnam 51508, Republic of Korea

    Gi-Yeop Kim, Kyung Song & Si-Young Choi

  4. Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Straße 40, D-01187 Dresden, Germany

    Kyung-Tae Ko

  5. Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA

    Hoyoung Jang, Hendrik Ohldag & Jun-Sik Lee

  6. Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea

    Min Hwa Jung & Yoon Hee Jeong

  7. Pohang Accelerator Laboratory, POSTECH, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea

    Tae Yeong Koo

  8. KAIST Institute for the NanoCentury, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea

    Chan-Ho Yang

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Contributions

B.-K.J. and C.-H.Y. conceived and designed the project. B.-K.J. and K.K. prepared samples and B.-K.J., M.H.J. and Y.H.J. characterized capacitance and loss tangent. J.H.L., B.-K.J., Y.-J.K., H.-B.J. and T.Y.K. carried out structural analysis using X-ray diffraction. J.-S.L., H.O., H.J., K.-T.K. and B.-K.J. performed and analysed soft X-ray spectroscopy. K.C., P.S., K.-E.K. and J.S. measured and analysed angle-resolved PFM. G.-Y.K., K.S. and S.-Y.C. performed STEM and EELS. B.-K.J. and C.-H.Y. designed and simulated the Landau model, and led manuscript preparation with contributions from all authors.

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Correspondence to Chan-Ho Yang.

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Jang, BK., Lee, J., Chu, K. et al. Electric-field-induced spin disorder-to-order transition near a multiferroic triple phase point. Nature Phys 13, 189–196 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3902

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