Evidence of Antiferromagnetism in Ultrathin Metallic (111)-Oriented LaNiO3 Films

Published

December 11, 2024

Author(s)

Margaret Kane, Purnima P. Balakrishnan, Okan Koksal, Megan Holtz, Andreas Suter, Michael R. Fitzsimmons, Chao-Yao Yang, Christoph Klewe, Paige Quarterman, Timothy R. Charlton, Andrew Herzing, Zaher Salman, Thomas Prokscha, Rossitza Pentcheva, Alexander Grutter, Yuri Suzuki

Abstract

Antiferromagnets with exotic spin textures promise low-power spintronic devices with extremely high operating frequencies and resistance to external perturbations. In particular, the combination of highly tunable correlated electron physics, as in complex oxides, with metallicity and antiferromagnetism is desirable but exceedingly rare. LaNiO3, the lone example of a perovskite nickelate which is metallic across all temperatures, has long been a promising candidate, but the antiferromagnetic metallic state has remained elusive. We demonstrate the emergence of this state in ultrathin films of (111)-oriented LaNiO3 using a combination of polarized neutron reflectometry, low-energy muon spectroscopy and anomalous Hall effect measurements, and density functional theory calculations with a Hubbard U term. Further, we find a highly strained symmetry-breaking interfacial region which may support canting of the AFM moments leading to a vanishingly small net magnetization at the film-substrate interface, providing a convenient route toward control of the Néel order. Evidence of antiferromagnetic metallic behavior in (111)LNO films highlights the role of crystal symmetry in tuning the novel quantum states in complex oxides.

Citation

Physical Review Materials

Volume

8

Issue

12

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.8.124406

Local Download

Keywords

complex oxides, nickelates, antiferromagnetism, structural distortions, magnetotransport, polarized neutron reflectometry, low-energy muon spectroscopy

Citation

Kane, M. , Balakrishnan, P. , Koksal, O. , Holtz, M. , Suter, A. , Fitzsimmons, M. , Yang, C. , Klewe, C. , Quarterman, P. , Charlton, T. , Herzing, A. , Salman, Z. , Prokscha, T. , Pentcheva, R. , Grutter, A. and Suzuki, Y. (2024), Evidence of Antiferromagnetism in Ultrathin Metallic (111)-Oriented LaNiO3 Films, Physical Review Materials, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.8.124406, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=957431 (Accessed July 19, 2025)