Observation of Uniaxial Strain Tuned Spin Cycloid in a Freestanding BiFeO3 Film

• Published in: Advanced functional materials 2023-07, Vol.33 (30), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Ding, Zhe, Sun, Yumeng, Zheng, Ningchong, Ma, Xingyue, Wang, Mengqi, Zang, Yipeng, Yu, Pei, Chen, Zhousheng, Wang, Pengfei, Wang, Ya, Yang, Yurong, Nie, Yuefeng, Shi, Fazhan, Du, Jiangfeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: BFO; Bismuth; Bismuth ferrite; Cycloids; Ferroelectricity; First principles; freestanding; Image acquisition; Materials science; spin cycloids; Spin structure; Substrates; Tensile strain; tensile strains
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202213725

Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) possesses a non‐collinear spin order while the ferroelectric order breaks space inversion symmetry. This allows efficient electric‐field control of magnetism and makes it a promising candidate for applications in low‐power spintronic devices. Epitaxial strain effects have been intensively studied and exhibit significant modulation of the magnetic order in bismuthBiFeO3, but tuning its spin structure with continuously varied uniaxial strain is still lacking at this moment. Herein, in situ uniaxial tensile strain is applied to a freestanding BiFeO3 film by mechanically stretching an organic substrate. A scanning nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) microscopy is applied to image the nanoscale magnetic order in real space. The strain is continuously increased from 0% to 1.5% and four images under different strains are acquired during this period. The images show that the spin cycloid tilts by ≈12.6° when strain approaches 1.5%. A first principle calculation is processed to show that the tilting is energetically favorable under such strain. The in situ strain applying method in combination with scanning NV microscope real‐space imaging ability paves a new way in studying the coupling between magnetic order and strain in BiFeO3 films. In situ uniaxial tensile strain is applied to a freestanding BiFeO3 film by stretching an organic substrate. A scanning nitrogen‐vacancy microscopy is applied to image the nanoscale magnetic order. The strain is continuously increased to 1.5% and a spin cycloid tilting ≈12.6° is observed. A first principle calculation is processed to show that the tilting is energetically favorable.