Enhanced magnetic modulation at a border of magnetic ordering in La1−xSrxMnO3/BaTiO3(100) heterostructure

Abstract

In La1−xSrxMnO3 (LSMO)/BaTiO3 (BTO) heterostructures with a multiferroic interface, an artificial modulation of the magnetic structure is observed. The saturation magnetization of La1−xSrxMnO3 changes discontinuously due to in-plane distortions caused by a structural phase transition of a BaTiO3 substrate. Polarity reversal of the external electric field also causes a reversible switching in the magnetization. The magnitude of both magnetic modulations, due to the magnetoelastic and electric field effects, is concomitantly enhanced at a critical composition xc∼0.55, locating at a border of the magnetic phase transition. The polarity-dependent change in magnetization is possibly attributed to a change in the concentration of oxygen ions at the LSMO/BTO interface, indicating that the exchange interaction is reciprocally driven from being ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic by the electric field polarity.