Neutron diffraction investigations of magnetism in BiFeO3 epitaxial films

William Ratcliff, Daisuke Kan, Wangchun Chen, Shannon Watson, Songxue Chi, Ross Erwin, Garry J. McIntyre, Sylvia C. Capelli, Ichiro Takeuchi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

The recovery of a modulated magnetic structure in epitaxial BiFeO 3 thin films as revealed by neutron diffraction is reported. The magnetic structure in thin films is found to strongly depend on substrate orientation. The substrate orientation causes different strain-relaxation processes resulting in different thin-film crystal structures. The (110) oriented film with a monoclinic structural phase has a single-domain modulated magnetic structure where the magnetic moment lies in the HHL plane. For the (111) oriented film that has a rhombohedral structure, a modulated structure superimposed on the G-type antiferromagnetic order is found. These results indicate that slight structural modifications in the BiFeO3 thin film cause drastic changes in the magnetic structure.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1567-1574
Number of pages8
JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
Volume21
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - May 10 2011

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