Near room-temperature multiferroic materials with tunable ferromagnetic and electrical properties

Hong Jian Zhao; Wei Ren; Yurong Yang; Jorge Iñiguez; Xiang Ming Chen; L Bellaiche

doi:10.1038/ncomms5021

Near room-temperature multiferroic materials with tunable ferromagnetic and electrical properties

Nat Commun. 2014 May 28:5:4021. doi: 10.1038/ncomms5021.

Authors

Hong Jian Zhao¹, Wei Ren², Yurong Yang³, Jorge Iñiguez⁴, Xiang Ming Chen⁵, L Bellaiche³

Affiliations

¹ 1] Laboratory of Dielectric Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China [2] Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA [3] Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA.
² Department of Physics, Shanghai University, 99 Shangda Road, Shanghai 200444, China.
³ 1] Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA [2] Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA.
⁴ Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
⁵ Laboratory of Dielectric Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.

PMID: 24865776
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5021

Abstract

The quest for multiferroic materials with ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties at room temperature continues to be fuelled by the promise of novel devices. Moreover, being able to tune the electrical polarization and the paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic transition temperature constitutes another current research direction of fundamental and technological importance. Here we report on the first-principles-based prediction of a specific class of materials--namely, R2NiMnO6/La2NiMnO6 superlattices where R is a rare-earth ion--that exhibit an electrical polarization and strong ferromagnetic order near room temperature, and whose electrical and ferromagnetic properties can be tuned by means of chemical pressure and/or epitaxial strain. Analysis of the first-principles results naturally explains the origins of these highly desired features.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.