Unusual discovery in thin film magnetism

Discovery

Materials with exceptional electronic and magnetic properties are of great importance for many applications. A particularly versatile class of materials are the 'perovskite oxides'. The University of Twente is leading in the research on these materials.

In the reported study, the researchers have discovered a special effect relating to the magnetism of one of such perovskite-oxides; lanthanum-manganese-oxide. This material consists of stackings of LaMnO₃ unit cells, quite comparable to stacking blocks of LEGO. In this case, the individual building blocks are only 0.4 nanometer in size though (1 nanometer is 1 millionths of a millimeter).

The new discovery is that the magnetism in these layers is switched on abruptly when the number of LaMnO₃ building blocks changes from 5 to 6. For their research, the scientists grew thin films of the oxide on a perfectly flat crystal of nonmagnetic SrTiO3, using a technique called pulsed laser deposition. By adding a sixth layer of LaMnO₃, the material switches from antiferromagnetic (antiferromagnets produce no magnetic field) to ferromagnetic. Such an abrupt transition has never been seen before. Using a Scanning SQUID Microscope, an instrument that uses superconducting electronics to measure magnetic fields with exquisite sensitivity, a direct image of the change in magnetic properties was obtained.

In their article, the researchers give an explanation for the abrupt switch from antiferromagnetism to ferromagnetism, based on an avalanche of electronic charge inside the LaMnO₃ thin film from the top surface of the film to the bottom.

Application

The discovery of such a sharp critical thickness for the appearance of ferromagnetism makes it possible to define magnetic structures on a nanoscale and implies that a very sensitive new functionality is present, in which a slight alteration or addition can alter the magnetic properties of the structure. The researchers expect this to be not only limited to adding new layers, but possibly also to other manipulations such as applying electric fields or adsorbing specific molecules. Further study will be conducted, aimed at the use of the effect in information technology and sensors.

At the University of Twente, the research was conducted by the Interfaces and Correlated Electron Systems (ICE) group, led by Prof. Hans Hilgenkamp. University of Twente postdoc Xiao Renshaw Wang had a central role in the study. The research has been done in close cooperation with the group of Prof. Venkatesan and former Twente PhD Prof. Ariando at the National University of Singapore, with further contributions from Stanford University, the University of Nebraska and Trinity College Dublin. NWO, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research and the FOM Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter supported the study.