Interface-dominated Growth of a Metastable Novel Alloy Phase

A new \textit{D0$_{23}$} metastable phase of Cu$_3$Au is found to grow at the interfaces of Au/Cu multilayers deposited by magnetron sputtering. The extent of formation of this novel alloy phase depends upon an optimal range of interfacial width primarily governed by the deposition wattage of the dc-magnetron used. Such interfacially confined growth is utilized to grow a $\sim$ 300 nm thick Au/Cu multilayer with thickness of each layer nearly equal to the optimal interfacial width which was obtained from secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) data. This growth technique is observed to enhance the formation of the novel alloy phase to a considerable extent. SIMS depth profile also indicates that the mass fragment corresponding to Cu$_3$Au occupies the whole film while x-ray diffraction (XRD) shows almost all the strong peaks belonging to the \textit{D0$_{23}$} structure. High resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (HR-XTEM) shows the near perfect growth of the individual layers and also the lattice image of the alloy phase in the interfacial region. Vacuum annealing of the alloy film and XRD studies indicate stabilization of the \textit{D0$_{23}$} phase at $\sim$ 150$^{\circ}$C. The role of interfacial confinement, the interplay between interfacial strain and free energy and the hyperthermal species generated during the sputtering process are discussed.Comment: Accepted in Journal of Materials Researc

Tailoring the interfacial magnetic interaction in epitaxial La0.7_{0.7}Sr0.3_{0.3}MnO3_3/Sm0.5_{0.5}Ca0.5_{0.5}MnO3_3 heterostructures

Interface engineering in complex oxide heterostructures has developed into a flourishing field as various intriguing physical phenomena can be demonstrated which are otherwise absent in their constituent bulk compounds. Here we present La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_3$ (LSMO) / Sm$_{0.5}$Ca$_{0.5}$MnO$_3$ (SCMO) based heterostructures showcasing the dominance of antiferromagnetic interaction with increasing interfaces. In particular, we demonstrate that exchange bias can be tuned by increasing the number of interfaces; while, on the other hand, electronic phase separation can be mimicked by creating epitaxial multilayers of such robust charge ordered antiferromagnetic (CO-AF) and ferromagnetic (FM) manganites with increased AF nature, which otherwise would require intrinsically disordered mixed phase materials. The origin of these phenomena is discussed in terms of magnetic interactions between the interfacial layers of the LSMO/SCMO. A theoretical model has been utilized to account for the experimentally observed magnetization curves in order to draw out the complex interplay between FM and AF spins at interfaces with the onset of charge ordering.Comment: 8 figure