Epitaxial Stabilization of Single-Crystal Multiferroic YCrO3 Thin Films

Yogesh Sharma; Elizabeth Skoropata; Binod Paudel; Kyeong Tae Kang; Dmitry Yarotski; T Zac Ward; Aiping Chen

doi:10.3390/nano10102085

Epitaxial Stabilization of Single-Crystal Multiferroic YCrO₃ Thin Films

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2020 Oct 21;10(10):2085. doi: 10.3390/nano10102085.

Authors

Yogesh Sharma¹, Elizabeth Skoropata², Binod Paudel¹, Kyeong Tae Kang¹, Dmitry Yarotski¹, T Zac Ward², Aiping Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
² Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

Abstract

We report on the growth of stoichiometric, single-crystal YCrO₃ epitaxial thin films on (001) SrTiO₃ substrates using pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy reveal that the films grew in a layer-by-layer fashion with excellent crystallinity and atomically smooth surfaces. Magnetization measurements demonstrate that the material is ferromagnetic below 144 K. The temperature dependence of dielectric permittivity shows a characteristic relaxor-ferroelectric behavior at T_C = 375-408 K. A dielectric anomaly at the magnetic transition temperature indicates a close correlation between magnetic and electric order parameters in these multiferroic YCrO₃ films. These findings provide guidance to synthesize rare-earth, chromite-based multifunctional heterostructures and build a foundation for future studies on the understanding of magnetoelectric effects in similar material systems.

Keywords: dielectrics; magnetism; multiferroics; rare-earth chromites; thin films.