Structural studies and physical properties of hexagonal-YbFeO3 thin films

Abstract

We present structural, magnetic, and optical properties of multiferroic hexagonal YbFeO3 thin films, deposited on single crystal (001) Al2O3 and (111) ysz substrates by a magnetron sputtering system. Interestingly, the thermal stress affects YbFeO3 films on Al2O3 and ysz very differently. Although hexagonal-YbFeO3/Al2O3 films changed from a hexagonal to an orthorhombic phase due to annealing above 1000 °C, hexagonal-YbFeO3/ysz films remained mostly unaffected even after annealing at 1200 °C. The electronic excitations of the YbFeO3 thin films are dominated by Fe3+ d to d on-site electronic excitations as well as O 2p to Fe 3d, Yb 6s, and 5d charge-transfer excitations, and these excitations for hexagonal-YbFeO3 and orthorhombic-YbFeO3 thin films are distinctly different, consistent with the crystal field environments in the hexagonal and orthorhombic phases of YbFeO3. The room temperature energy band gaps of the hexagonal-YbFeO3 and orthorhombic-YbFeO3 thin films were measured to be ∼1.95 ± 0.05 eV and ∼2.40 ± 0.05 eV, respectively.

Hexagonal RFeO3 (R = Dy, Er, and Lu) Films Grown on Glass Substrates with Both Magnetic and Ferroelectric Orders

“…Peak-like features were observed at approximately 2.4, 2.9, and 4.0 eV. The optical spectra are similar to those of previously reported for h-RFeO 3 35,38,39 but are different from those for o-RFeO 3 , 40 indicating that the obtained films had h-RFeO 3 phases. For epitaxial films of h-RFeO 3 (R = Er, Ho, Yb, and Lu), it was reported that the three peak-like features are assigned to the d−d transition in the Fe 3d orbital, the transition from the hybridized Fe 3d-O 2p to Fe 3d orbitals, and the charge-transfer transition from O 2p to Fe 3d orbitals, respectively.…”

Dependence of the Structural and Magnetic Properties on the Growth Sequence in Heterostructures Designed by YbFeO3 and BaFe12O19

“…The magnetic characterization of h-YbFeO 3 was performed by measuring the polarization loops at different temperatures. Zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) magnetic measurements demonstrated the existence of the magnetic transition Neel temperature of about 125 K [ 16 , 17 , 19 ]. Moreover, h-YbFeO 3 has been demonstrated to possess a canted antiferromagnetic spin structure exhibiting a ferromagnetic moment [ 19 ].…”

The temperature induced current transport characteristics in the orthoferrite YbFeO3− δ thin film/p-type Si structure

“…The ytterbium ferrite material (YbFeO 3−δ ) is a member of rare earth orthoferrites and its optical band gap is around 2.1 eV [8,9]. The YbFeO 3−δ has a wide application due to its ferroelectricity properties [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. It is studied for various purposes such as alteration of spin orientation, magneto-optical effects, controlling magnetic properties by tuning electric field and applied temperature, ferroelectric solar cells, gas sensors and so on [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

“…The YbFeO 3−δ has a wide application due to its ferroelectricity properties [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. It is studied for various purposes such as alteration of spin orientation, magneto-optical effects, controlling magnetic properties by tuning electric field and applied temperature, ferroelectric solar cells, gas sensors and so on [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Ferrites have grabbed attention due to their potential dielectric performance and it makes them good candidate materials for microwave devices, too [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

“…It is studied for various purposes such as alteration of spin orientation, magneto-optical effects, controlling magnetic properties by tuning electric field and applied temperature, ferroelectric solar cells, gas sensors and so on [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Ferrites have grabbed attention due to their potential dielectric performance and it makes them good candidate materials for microwave devices, too [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. It is known that the perovskite-oxide ferroelectric thin films are important materials in order to shrink memory devices and decrease electrical power [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32].…”