Evidence of non-Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya ferromagnetism in epitaxial BiFeO3 films

X-ray diffraction analysis and high-resolution electron microscopy of BiFeO3 films prepared by dc magnetron sputtering on single-crystal LaAlO3 (001) substrates reveal that the films have a highly c-oriented orthorhombic crystalline structure. The magnetic properties of the BiFeO3 films are typical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Low temperature physics (Woodbury, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2011-02, Vol.37 (2), p.129-133
Main Authors: Prokhorov, V. G., Kaminsky, G. G., Kim, J. M., Eom, T. W., Park, J. S., Lee, Y. P., Svetchnikov, V. L., Levtchenko, G. G., Nikolaenko, Yu. M., Khokhlov, V. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:X-ray diffraction analysis and high-resolution electron microscopy of BiFeO3 films prepared by dc magnetron sputtering on single-crystal LaAlO3 (001) substrates reveal that the films have a highly c-oriented orthorhombic crystalline structure. The magnetic properties of the BiFeO3 films are typical of ensembles of interacting superparamagnetic clusters, rather than Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya weak ferromagnets. The appearance of extrinsic nanoscale superparamagnetic clusters is explained by an oxygen deficiency in certain regions of the film, where ferromagnetic ordering can be realized through a double-exchange Zener mechanism.
ISSN:1063-777X
1090-6517
DOI:10.1063/1.3555838