Epitaxial magnetic oxide heterostructures

Perovskite oxides exhibit a range of physical properties including insulator, semiconductor, metal, superconductor, ferromagnet and many more. Interactions between order parameters result in new properties such as the multiferroic materials. The production of artificial layered epitaxial magnetic heterostructures motivates this research. This requires atomic layer controlled growth which depends on selection of materials for their structural and chemical compatibility, preparation of substrates to achieve well-defined surfaces at the atomic level and the development of a deposition and analysis technique capable of controlling growth' at this level. We have used a pulsed laser deposition system with in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction to produce epitaxial magnetic oxide heterostructures on lattice-matched substrates and have investigated a number of magnetic interactions.; We have demonstrated an unusual antiferromagnetic interfacial exchange coupling between epitaxial bilayers of La0.67Sr0.33MnO 3 and SrRuO3 grown on (001) SrTiO3 substrates. The sign and magnitude of the exchange field depends on the cooling field. By interrupting the charge transfer at the interface with a very thin insulating layer, we have demonstrated this exchange biasing effect is related to the spin-dependent band structures of the materials.; We have investigated the structural and magnetic properties of epitaxial multilayers and superlattices of manganites. These materials exhibit colossal magnetoresistance and the Curie temperature can be adjusted over a range of 100 K. We have fabricated La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/La 0.82Ba0.18MnO3 superlattices with layers as thin as 8 unit cells (32A). These superlattices have magnetic transition temperatures above 350 K and coercivities of approximately 10 Oe.; Deposition techniques can effectively control the out-of-plane dimension on the nanoscale but control or lateral dimensions has proven more challenging. We have fabricated magnetic perovskite nanodots less than 50 nm tall with diameters less than 100 nm using electron-beam lithography and ion milling. The nanodots maintain their crystallinity, epitaxial structure and ferromagnetic properties. These are the smallest ferromagnetic perovskite nanodots yet reported.; This work helps understanding in the issues relating the processing and growth of perovskite heterostructures to physical phenomenon.