Content:
[eng] Multiferroic materials, in which two or more ferroic ordering take place in the same phase, have driven major interest in the last few years, not only due to the possibility of exploring novel physical properties in those materials, but also the implications that such properties show in novel technological applications. From those materials, the especially interesting are those in which the ferromagnetic (FM) and ferroelectric (FE) ordering take place, due to their direct application in magnetodielectric devices. In the field of multiferroic materials such materials could play an important role in a new generation of none volatile magnetic random access memories (M RAM), in which a sufficiently strong magnetodielectric coupling could allow for the modification of the magnetic state, not only with a magnetic field, but with an electric field. This fact would allow for a dramatic reduction in energy consumption and would promote the further technological integration (the major commercial drawback of MRAMs), due to the fact that an electric field, contrary to the magnetic field, can be applied locally. Additionally, such multiferroic materials could prove useful in magnetic tunnel junctions, in which the ferroelectric and ferromagnetic nature would allow them to codify four resistive states, instead of the traditional two states of ferroelectric or ferromagnetic junctions, allowing for the implementation of a generation of four state memories. The materials with perovskite structure, ABB03 (A=Rare Earth, Bismuth, Lead and Yttrium), bring a broad spectrum of possibilities when it comes to design of multifunctional materials. This is due to the wide variety of A, B, B" cations that are compatible with such structure. However, in the case of R(NiMn)03, such oxides have been poorly studied and many detailed studies, both in bulk and thin films are needed. The cation selection of B and B' seems to transform the paramagnetic ordering (PM) into FM below room temperature. The multiferroicity of these materials is typically provided by the A cation of the perovskite formula, which can be Bi or Pd, in order to create a Type 1 multiferroic. In this type of materials, i.e: Bi2NiM n06, the ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism arose by separate mechanisms, the FE is provided by the A cation, with so called long pair electrons, which are free electrons in the valence band that do not participate in any chemical reaction in the compound, while the Ni2+(d8) and (M n4+) (d3) provides the FM. However, even though the materials are multiferroic, their magnetodielectric coupling, crucial for future industrial applications, is weak, due to the different mechanisms that provide their FM and FE ordering. On the other hand, the FE induction by geometrical distortion of the perovskite lattice, for example in YM n03, is an interesting case since rotations of the M nO6 octahedrons promote an important structural change, in which the oxygen atoms move closer to the Y and, due to a large dipole interaction, generate a stable FE state. Moreover, the deformation of the unit cell generates a weak spin canting on the Mn cations, that can be promoted by Li doping or lattice distortions. This behavior could prove useful in the R(NiM n)06 family, which shows strong FM . This thesis is devoted to the study of R(Ni0.5M n0.5)03 (Y,Sm, Nd and Pr) and Bi(Fe0.5M n0.5)06 grown in thin films by pulsed laser deposition technique. Firstly, this thesis focuses on the growth and characterization of thin films of Y(Ni0.5M n0.5)03 (YNM 0) on strontium titanate substrates SrTiO3(001) (STO). The influence of the deposition parameters, such as temperature, fluence and ablation frequency, on the morphology and crystalline quality of the films is investigated. The study reveals that the YNMO films grown on STO(001,011 and 111) substrates are epitaxial and that their crystalline quality and epitaxial relationship are similar to those of the YMO compound. In particular, it is observed that a single out of plane domain is the norm for all the substrate orientations, while there are various in-plane domains. Moreover, chemical composition studies reveal Ti diffusion from the substrate to the YNMO film when STO(111) substrates are used. Once the growth conditions of YNMO are optimized, the magnetic and dielectric properties are studied. All the films show a paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition at a temperature around 95K, with a magnetic moment of YNMO(001) = 4.35µB/f.u, YNMO(100) = 4,4 µB/f.u and YNMO(101) = 3,7µB/f.u, confirming the ferromagnetic nature of the samples. The dielectric characterization reveal a FE ordering on the YNMO films, and what is more, the existence of a dielectric anisotropy on the films, that is characterized by the absence of ferroelectric response on YNMO samples deposited on STO(001), while YNMO samples on STO(111) show a strong FE response. This anisotropy could be explained, according to recent theoretical studies, in the improper origin of the observed ferroelectriciy. The coexistence of FM and FE response shows in a conclusive manner the multiferroic nature of the YNMO compound. Secondly, studies similar to those previously presented are performed for thin films of R(Ni0.5Mn0.5)O3 (Sm, Nd and Pr) compounds grown on STO(001). In this case the deposition temperature turns out to play a crucial role on the epitaxial growth of all the studied compounds. It is shown that the ratio between the b/a lattice parameters influences the epitaxial growth of the films, being the decisive factor between single or multi domain films. All the samples show a PM to FM transition at temperatures around 190K Finally, films of Bi(Fe0.5Mn0.5)O6 have been grown on STO(001) substrates. The films are epitaxial and grow under epitaxial strain. Samples show a FM behavior at room temperature with a weak signal of 7,42 emu/cm3 and 0,4 µB/f.u(Fe-Mn). The dielectrical characterization shows the influence of external magnetic fields on the dielectric properties of the film above room temperature.
Note:
Dissertation Universitat de Barcelona 2016
Language:
English
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