Magnetic Structure and Ordering of Multiferroic Hexagonal LuFeO3

Published

May 29, 2015

Author(s)

Steven M. Disseler, Julie A. Borchers, Charles M. Brooks, Julia A. Mundy, Jarrett A. Moyer, Daniel A. Hillsberry, Eric L. Thies, Dmitri A. Tenne, John Heron, Megan Holtz, James D. Clarkson, Gregory M. Stiehl, Peter Schiffer, David A. Muller, Darrell G. Schlom, William D. Ratcliff

Abstract

We report on the magnetic structure and ordering of hexagonal LuFeO₃ films of variable thickness grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) on YSZ (111) and Al₂O₃ (0001) substrates. These crystalline films exhibit long-range structural uniformity dominated by the polar P6₃cm phase, which is responsible for the paraelectric to ferroelectric transition that occurs above 1000 K. Using bulk magnetometry and neutron diffraction, we find that the system orders into a ferromagnetically-canted antiferromagnetic state via a single transition below 155 K regardless of film thickness, which is substantially lower than that previously reported in hexagonal LuFeO₃ films. The symmetry of the magnetic structure in the ferroelectric state implies that this material is a strong candidate for linear magnetoelectric coupling and control of the ferromagnetic moment directly by an electric field.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Volume

114

Issue

21

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

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Keywords

Multiferroic, Neutron Scattering, Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Citation

Disseler, S. , Borchers, J. , , C. , , J. , , J. , , D. , , E. , , D. , Heron, J. , Holtz, M. , , J. , , G. , Schiffer, P. , LaVan, D. , , D. and Ratcliff, W. (2015), Magnetic Structure and Ordering of Multiferroic Hexagonal LuFeO₃, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=918573 (Accessed October 16, 2025)