The Microstructural Characterization of Multiferroic LaFeO₃-YMnO₃ Multilayers Grown on (001)- and (111)-SrTiO₃ Substrates by Transmission Electron Microscopy

Bin Pang; Lei Sun; Xuan Shen; Yang-Yang Lv; Xiao Li; Fei-Xiang Wu; Shu-Hua Yao; Jian Zhou; Shan-Tao Zhang; Y B Chen

doi:10.3390/ma10070839

The Microstructural Characterization of Multiferroic LaFeO₃-YMnO₃ Multilayers Grown on (001)- and (111)-SrTiO₃ Substrates by Transmission Electron Microscopy

Materials (Basel). 2017 Jul 21;10(7):839. doi: 10.3390/ma10070839.

Authors

Bin Pang¹, Lei Sun², Xuan Shen³, Yang-Yang Lv⁴, Xiao Li⁵, Fei-Xiang Wu⁶, Shu-Hua Yao⁷, Jian Zhou⁸, Shan-Tao Zhang⁹, Y B Chen^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. shasiyico@163.com.
² National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. sunleixwz@126.com.
³ Shanghai Nanoport, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Shanghai 201210, China. xuan.Shen@fei.com.
⁴ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. lvyangws0801@163.com.
⁵ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. mg1522050@smail.nju.edu.cn.
⁶ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. wffx0981@sina.com.
⁷ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. shyao@nju.edu.cn.
⁸ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. zhoujian@nju.edu.cn.
⁹ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. stzhang@nju.edu.cn.
¹⁰ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. ybchen@nju.edu.cn.
¹¹ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. ybchen@nju.edu.cn.

Abstract

The microstructure of multiferroic LaFeO₃-YMnO₃ (LFO-YMO) multilayers grown on (001)- and (111)-SrTiO₃ substrates is characterized by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Detailed TEM characterization reveals that LFO-YMO multilayers grown on both substrates have clear layer-by-layer morphology and distinct chemical-composition layered structure. The most notable feature is that LFO-YMO multilayers grown on (001)-SrTiO₃ substrate have three types of domains, while those on (111)-SrTiO₃ have only one. The multi-/twin- domain structure can be qualitatively explained by the lattice mismatch in this system. The details of the domain structure of LFO-YMO multilayers are crucial to understanding their magnetic properties.

Keywords: domain structure; multiferroic; multilayers; transmission electron microscopy.