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Crafting the magnonic and spintronic response of BiFeO3 films by epitaxial strain

Nature Materials volume 12, pages 641–646 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Multiferroics are compounds that show ferroelectricity and magnetism. BiFeO3, by far the most studied, has outstanding ferroelectric properties, a cycloidal magnetic order in the bulk, and many unexpected virtues such as conductive domain walls or a low bandgap of interest for photovoltaics. Although this flurry of properties makes BiFeO3 a paradigmatic multifunctional material, most are related to its ferroelectric character, and its other ferroic property—antiferromagnetism—has not been investigated extensively, especially in thin films. Here we bring insight into the rich spin physics of BiFeO3 in a detailed study of the static and dynamic magnetic response of strain-engineered films. Using Mössbauer and Raman spectroscopies combined with Landau–Ginzburg theory and effective Hamiltonian calculations, we show that the bulk-like cycloidal spin modulation that exists at low compressive strain is driven towards pseudo-collinear antiferromagnetism at high strain, both tensile and compressive. For moderate tensile strain we also predict and observe indications of a new cycloid. Accordingly, we find that the magnonic response is entirely modified, with low-energy magnon modes being suppressed as strain increases. Finally, we reveal that strain progressively drives the average spin angle from in-plane to out-of-plane, a property we use to tune the exchange bias and giant-magnetoresistive response of spin valves.

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Figure 1: Mössbauer spectra for BFO films grown on various substrates.
Figure 2: Magnetic phase diagram of strained BFO films.
Figure 3: Low-energy Raman spectra for BFO films grown on various substrates.
Figure 4: Influence of strain on the spin angle, exchange bias and GMR.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to D. Colson for providing the 57Fe-enriched target and to P. Bonville, M. A. Méasson, Y. Gallais and S. W. Cheong for stimulating discussions. Financial support from the French Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) through projects NOMILOPS and MULTIDOLLS and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research is acknowledged. D.R. and L.B. thank mostly the support of NSF. They also acknowledge DOE, ARO and ONR for discussions with scientists sponsored by these agencies.

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Author notes

  1. P. Rovillain

    Present address: Present addresses: School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia; The Bragg Institute, ANSTO, Kirrawee DC New South Wales 2234, Australia,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS/Thales, 1 av. Fresnel, 91767 Palaiseau & Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France

    D. Sando, I. C. Infante, S. Fusil, E. Jacquet, C. Carrétéro, C. Deranlot, A. Barthélémy & M. Bibes

  2. Groupe de Physique des Matériaux, UMR 6634, CNRS-Université de Rouen, Avenue de l’Université BP12 Saint Etienne du Rouvray cedex, France

    A. Agbelele, J-M. Le Breton & J. Juraszek

  3. Physics Department and Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA

    D. Rahmedov & L. Bellaiche

  4. Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques (UMR 7162 CNRS), Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7, 75205 Paris cedex 13, France

    J. Liu, P. Rovillain, C. Toulouse, M. Cazayous & A. Sacuto

  5. Laboratoire SPMS, UMR 8580, Ecole Centrale Paris-CNRS, Grande Voie des Vignes, Châtenay-Malabry, France

    I. C. Infante & B. Dkhil

  6. Prokhorov General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Vavilova 38, Moscow 119991, Russia

    A. P. Pyatakov & A. K. Zvezdin

  7. Physics Department, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie gory, MSU, Moscow 119992, Russia

    A. P. Pyatakov

  8. Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33647, USA

    S. Lisenkov

  9. Electronic Materials Research Laboratory—Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, and International Center for Dielectric Research, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

    D. Wang

  10. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology State University (MIPT) 141700, 9, Institutskii per., Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russia

    A. K. Zvezdin

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Contributions

M.B., A.B., B.D. and D.S. conceived the study. D.S., C.C., E.J., C.D. and I.C.I. prepared the samples. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (D.S., C.C., B.D. and I.C.I), atomic force microscopy (D.S., C.C., I.C.I. and S.F.) and piezoresponse force microscopy (I.C.I. and S.F.). A.A., J.J. and J-M.L.B. performed the Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements and analysed the results. J.L., P.R., C.T., A.S. and M.C. performed the Raman spectroscopy measurements and analysed the results. I.C.I. and M.B. carried out magnetometry and magnetotransport measurements on the samples. A.P.P. and A.K.Z. conducted the Landau–Ginzburg calculations and D.R., S.L., D.W. and L.B. carried out Heff calculations. M.B., J.J., A.P.P., A.K.Z. and D.S. wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the manuscript and the interpretation of the data.

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Correspondence to M. Bibes.

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Sando, D., Agbelele, A., Rahmedov, D. et al. Crafting the magnonic and spintronic response of BiFeO3 films by epitaxial strain. Nature Mater 12, 641–646 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3629

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