Handling magnetic and structural properties of EuMnO3 thin films by the combined effect of Lu doping and substrate strain

This work aims to understand the alterations induced by film/substrate lattice mismatch in structure, lattice dynamics and magnetic response of orthorhombic Eu1-xLuxMnO3 thin films within the range 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4, when compared to results reported for ceramics with analogous composition. Thin films, which have been deposited onto Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) oriented substrates via chemical method, exhibit noteworthy modifications in the magnetic ordering properties and, contrary to ceramics, do not show any sharp phase transition to the paramagnetic state. This reveals an induced ferromagnetic response in the films which is stable up to 100 K. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measurements have been performed to identify the mechanically compressive state induced by the substrate and Lu doping. This facilitates insight into the magnetoelastic coupling effect in these films which is driven by alterations in electronic orbital overlapping and the associated antiferromagnetic superexchange interactions.publishe

Origin of discrepancy between electrical and mechanical anomalies in lead-free (K,Na)NbO3 -based ceramics

[EN] Ferroelectric polymorphic phase coexistence, associated with either the presence of a morphotropic phase boundary or a temperature-driven polymorphic phase transition, is currently acknowledged as the key to high piezoelectric activity and is searched when new perovskite materials are developed, like lead-free alternatives to state-of-the-art Pb(Zr,Ti)O3. This requires characterization tools that allow phase coexistence and transitions to be readily identified, among which measurements of the temperature dependences of Young's modulus and mechanical losses by dynamical mechanical analysis stand out as a powerful technique to complement standard electrical characterizations. We report here the application of this technique to (K1-xNax)NbO3-based materials, which are under extensive investigation as environmentally friendly high sensitivity piezoelectrics. The elastic anomalies associated with the different phase transitions are identified and are shown to be distinctively shifted in relation to the dielectric ones. The origin of this discrepancy is discussed with the help of temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy and is proposed to be a characteristic of diffuse phase transitions.The authors would like to thank CAPES and the Sâo Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Grants No. 2012/08457-7 and No. 2013/00134-7, for the financial support. M.A. also acknowledges funding from MINECO through the MAT2014-58816-R Project.Peer Reviewe

High-sensitivity piezoelectric perovskites for magnetoelectric composites

© 2015 National Institute for Materials Science. A highly topical set of perovskite oxides are high-sensitivity piezoelectric ones, among which Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 at the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) between ferroelectric rhombohedral and tetragonal polymorphic phases is reckoned a case study. Piezoelectric ceramics are used in a wide range of mature, electromechanical transduction technologies like piezoelectric sensors, actuators and ultrasound generation, to name only a few examples, and more recently for demonstrating novel applications like magnetoelectric composites. In this case, piezoelectric perovskites are combined with magnetostrictive materials to provide magnetoelectricity as a product property of the piezoelectricity and piezomagnetism of the component phases. Interfaces play a key issue, for they control the mechanical coupling between the piezoresponsive phases. We present here main results of our investigation on the suitability of the high sensitivity MPB piezoelectric perovskite BiScO3-PbTiO3 in combination with ferrimagnetic spinel oxides for magnetoelectric composites. Emphasis has been put on the processing at low temperature to control reactions and interdiffusion between the two oxides. The role of the grain size effects is extensively addressed.This work has been funded by the Spanish MINECO through projects MAT2011-23709 and AIB2010PT-00332. Collaboration between ICMM and CEMES is framed within the COST Action MP0904. Serviciencia S L (Spain) participation in the design and built-up of a novel magnetoelectric measurement system is acknowledged. HA thanks the Ramón y Cajal Programme for financial support.Peer Reviewe

Unravelling the effect of SrTiO3 antiferrodistortive phase transition on the magnetic properties of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 thin films

Epitaxial La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) thin films, with different thicknesses ranging from 20 to 330 nm, were deposited on (1 0 0)-oriented strontium titanate (STO) substrates by pulsed laser deposition, with their structure and morphology characterized at room temperature. The magnetic and electric transport properties of the as-processed thin films reveal an abnormal behaviour in the temperature dependent magnetization M(T) below the antiferrodistortive STO phase transition (TSTO), and also an anomaly in the magnetoresistance and electrical resistivity close to the same temperature. Films with thickness ≤100 nm show an in-excess magnetization and pronounced changes in the coercivity due to the interface-mediated magnetoelastic coupling with antiferrodistortive domain wall movement occurring below TSTO. However, in thicker LSMO thin films, an in-defect magnetization is observed. This reversed behaviour can be understood with the emergence in the upper layer of the film, of a columnar structure needed to relax the elastic energy stored in the film, which leads to randomly oriented magnetic domain reconstructions. For enough high-applied magnetic fields, as thermodynamic equilibrium is reached, a full suppression of the anomalous magnetization occurs, wherein the temperature dependence of the magnetization starts to follow the expected Brillouin behaviour.This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciencia e Tecnologia and COMPETE/QREN/EU, through the project PTDC/CTM/099415/2008. The authors are very grateful to Maria Joao Pereira and Maria Rosario Soares from CICECO, University of Aveiro, for the HR-XRD measurements and discussion of the results. F Figueiras acknowledges FCT grant SFRH/BPD/80663/2011. The authors also acknowledge Projeto Norte-070124-FEDER-000070 and Professor J Fontcuberta for their fruitful discussions

Induced polarized state in intentionally grown oxygen deficient KTaO3 thin films

Deliberately oxygen deficient potassium tantalate thin films were grown by RF magnetron sputtering on Si/SiO2/Ti/Pt substrates. Once they were structurally characterized, the effect of oxygen vacancies on their electric properties was addressed by measuring leakage currents, dielectric constant, electric polarization, and thermally stimulated depolarization currents. By using K2O rich KTaO3 targets and specific deposition conditions, KTaO3-delta oxygen deficient thin films with a K/Ta = 1 ratio were obtained. Room temperature X-ray diffraction patterns show that KTaO3-delta thin films are under a compressive strain of 2.3% relative to KTaO3 crystals. Leakage current results reveal the presence of a conductive mechanism, following the Poole-Frenkel formalism. Furthermore, dielectric, polarization, and depolarization current measurements yield the existence of a polarized state below T-pol similar to 367 degrees C. A Cole-Cole dipolar relaxation was also ascertained apparently due to oxygen vacancies induced dipoles. After thermal annealing the films in an oxygen atmosphere at a temperature above T-pol, the aforementioned polarized state is suppressed, associated with a drastic oxygen vacancies reduction emerging from annealing process. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC

Obtention of Li3xLa2/3−xTiO3 ceramics from amorphous nanopowders by spark plasma sintering

In this work, LiLaTiO powder with nominal lithium content (x = 0.08) was synthesized by mechano synthesis method. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) was employed to prepare lithium lanthanum titanium oxide solid-state ceramic. The techniques of X-ray diffraction, high resolution scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the composition and microstructure of samples. The results showed that fine-grained ceramics with relative density of 95.5% were obtained by sintering the oxide powders at 1100°C for only 5 min.The authors would like to thank CNPq and FAPEAM Brazilian agencies for financial support n° [350405/2012–3]. Y. Romaguera-Barcelay also thanks the operation program ON.2 for their financial support (NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000070 – Multifunctional nanomaterials)