title: Near room-temperature multiferroic materials with tunable ferromagnetic and electrical properties.
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.
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Hong Jian
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Shanghai University, 99 Shangda Road, Shanghai 200444, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: 1] Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA [2] Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA.
authors.forename: Yurong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iñiguez
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Dielectric Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
authors.forename: Xiang Ming
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: 1] Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA [2] Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bellaiche