1 research outputs found
Emergent nanoscale superparamagnetism at oxide interfaces
Atomically sharp oxide heterostructures exhibit a range of novel physical
phenomena that do not occur in the parent bulk compounds. The most prominent
example is the appearance of highly conducting and superconducting states at
the interface between the band insulators LaAlO3 and SrTiO3. Here we report a
new emergent phenomenon at the LaMnO3/SrTiO3 interface in which an
antiferromagnetic insulator abruptly transforms into a magnetic state that
exhibits unexpected nanoscale superparamagnetic dynamics. Upon increasing the
thickness of LaMnO3 above five unit cells, our scanning nanoSQUID-on-tip
microscopy shows spontaneous formation of isolated magnetic islands of 10 to 50
nm diameter, which display random moment reversals by thermal activation or in
response to an in-plane magnetic field. Our charge reconstruction model of the
polar LaMnO3/SrTiO3 heterostructure describes the sharp emergence of
thermodynamic phase separation leading to nucleation of metallic ferromagnetic
islands in an insulating antiferromagnetic matrix. The model further suggests
that the nearby superparamagnetic-ferromagnetic transition can be gate tuned,
holding potential for applications in magnetic storage and spintronics