Polar domain walls trigger magnetoelectric coupling

Abstract

Interface physics in oxide heterostructures is pivotal in material's science. Domain walls (DWs) in ferroic systems are examples of naturally occurring interfaces, where order parameter of neighboring domains is modified and emerging properties may develop. Here we show that electric tuning of ferroelastic domain walls in SrTiO3 leads to dramatic changes of the magnetic domain structure of a neighboring magnetic layer (La1/2Sr1/2MnO3) epitaxially clamped on a SrTiO3 substrate. We show that by exploiting the resposiveness of DWs nanoregions to external stimuli, even in absence of any domain contribution, prominent and adjustable macroscopic reactions of neighboring layers can be obtained. We conclude that polar DWs, known to exist in other materials, can be used to trigger tunable responses and may lead to new ways for manipulation of interfacial emerging properties.

References in corpus (4)

• Electric Field Control of the LaAlO${}_3$/SrTiO${}_3$ Interface Ground State
• Giant sharp magnetoelectric switching in multiferroic epitaxial La_{0.67}Sr_{0.33}MnO_3 on BaTiO_3
• Strain gradient induced polarization in SrTiO3 single crystals
• Electric field control of exchange bias in multiferroic epitaxial heterostructures

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Insulating phase at low temperature in ultrathin La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 films
• Infrared ellipsometry study of the photo-generated charge carriers at the (001) and (110) surfaces of SrTiO${}_3$ crystals and the interface of corresponding LaAlO${}_3$/SrTiO${}_3$ heterostructures
• Room-temperature surface multiferroicity in Y${}_2$NiMnO${}_6$ nanorods
• Observation of zero-field transverse resistance in AlO${}_x$/SrTiO${}_3$ interface devices