Mechanically Tunable Magnetic Properties of Flexible SrRuO₃ Epitaxial Thin Films on Mica Substrates

Abstract

Epitaxial SrRuO3 (SRO) films with BaTiO3 buffer layer are deposited on mica substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The flexible film layers are subsequently prepared by mechanical exfoliation. The impact of mechanical strain on the magnetic properties of SRO is investigated. To control the applied mechanical strain, the prepared SRO films are firmly attached onto convex molds with different radii of curvature. The magnetization measurements are performed on SRO films under different mechanical strains. It is found that the magnetic properties of SRO films, including Curie temperature, saturated magnetic moment, and coercive field, depend strongly on the mechanical strain. The saturated moment can be enhanced from 1.2 to 3.2 µB per Ru by applying a compressive mechanical strain, which is presumably attributed to a spin state transition. The magnetic anisotropy can be varied as well by exerting mechanical compressive or tensile strain. The flexible SRO films on mica substrate with highly tunable magnetic properties show a great potential for novel applications in flexible electronics.

Mechanical Modulation of Colossal Magnetoresistance in Flexible Epitaxial Perovskite Manganite

“…The fast Fourier transform patterns from the regions of PCMO, STO, and F-mica can directly and obviously provide the epitaxial relationships. The out-of-plane epitaxial relationship can be determined as PCMO (111) || STO (111) || F-mica (001) while the in-plane epitaxial relationship is PCMO [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]…”

“…The lattice constants of F-mica are a = 5.308 Å, b = 9.183 Å, c = 10.139 Å, α = 90°, β = 100°, and γ = 90°. As shown in many mica related studies, the integration of oxide materials and flexible mica demonstrated superior-performance such as transparent conductive indiumdoped tin oxide [4] and aluminum-doped zinc oxide, [5] ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate [6,7] and BaTiO 3 , [8] spintronic Fe 3 O 4 [9] and ferromagnetic SrRuO 3 , [10] etc. In the meanwhile, perovskite manganites, Re 1-x Ae x MnO 3 (Re is a trivalent rare-earth ion and Ae is a divalent alkalineearth ion), have been considered as the most promising materials for achieving the manipulation of electromagnetic properties such as low-field MR [11] and colossal magnetoresistance (CMR), [12,13] and leading the creation of next-generation electronic devices.…”

“…|| STO (111) || F-mica (001) and PCMO[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] || STO[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] || F-mica[010]. Thickness dependent domain sizes of 40 and 100 nm were observed by SEM.…”

Magnetic properties of synthetic fluorophlogopite mica crystals

“…22 In this context, the integration of magnetic materials on mica is also gaining importance. [23][24][25][26] In parallel, the interest in magnetic 2D materials has been spurred by the recent discovery of this property, either intrinsic or associated to defects, in some of this low dimensional systems. 27,28 Despite the relevance of mica as substrate for growing magnetic materials, not enough attention has been paid to the magnetic properties of mica itself.…”

Mechanically controlled reversible photoluminescence response in all-inorganic flexible transparent ferroelectric/mica heterostructures

“…The studies have substantiated the integration of oxide films with flexible mica substrates as an effective strategy for obtaining flexible functional devices. In addition, by bending the mica, the produced mechanical strain can markedly manipulate the physical properties (e.g., Curie temperature, coercive field, and ferromagnetic resonance) of the flexible thin films deposited on it 22,23 . Such a remarkable approach of using mica crystals as substrates makes it possible to prepare flexible and transparent luminescent thin films.…”