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Interfacial diffusion and exchange bias in the oxide multilayer Zn 0.7 Ni 0.3 Fe 2 O 4 /BiFeO 3 /SrTiO 3
Author(s) -
Lin WeiJui,
Qi Xiaoding
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.3850
Subject(s) - materials science , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , lanio , multiferroics , epitaxy , exchange bias , antiferromagnetism , ferromagnetism , sputter deposition , ferroelectricity , oxide , analytical chemistry (journal) , transmission electron microscopy , thin film , sputtering , condensed matter physics , layer (electronics) , nuclear magnetic resonance , nanotechnology , magnetization , optoelectronics , metallurgy , magnetic anisotropy , chemistry , magnetic field , physics , quantum mechanics , chromatography , dielectric
The aim of this work is to fabricate an all‐oxide spin valve using multiferroic BiFeO 3 as the antiferromagnetic pinning layer, in the hope that we may be able to switch magnetoresistance electrically. The proposed architecture is Zn 0.7 Ni 0.3 Fe 2 O 4 / Sr 1– x La x TiO 3 / Zn 0.7 Ni 0.3 Fe 2 O 4 / BiFeO 3 / LaNiO 3 /SrTiO 3 . We have demonstrated that such a multilayer structure can be grown epitaxially by the RF magnetron sputtering. X‐ray diffraction showed that the films were indeed biaxially aligned with reasonable in‐plane and out‐of‐plane textures, under the growth conditions optimised for achieving good ferroelectric and magnetic properties. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiling showed that there was significant Bi diffusion across the interface if the BiFeO 3 film was not stabilised in high oxygen ambience after deposition. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy showed a tidy and sharp Zn 0.7 Ni 0.3 Fe 2 O 4 / BiFeO 3 boundary for the Zn 0.7 Ni 0.3 Fe 2 O 4 films grown at 550 °C, while for the films grown at higher temperature an irregular interface was observed. Under the optimum growth condition, a clear exchange bias was achieved at the Zn 0.7 Ni 0.3 Fe 2 O 4 / BiFeO 3 interface. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.