Ferroelectricity driven magnetism at domain walls in LaAlO3/PbTiO3 superlattices.
Charge dipole moment and spin moment rarely coexist in single-phase bulk materials except in some multiferroics. Despite the progress in the past decade, for most multiferroics their magnetoelectric performance remains poor due to the intrinsic exclusion between charge dipole and spin moment. As an alternative approach, the oxide heterostructures may evade the intrinsic limits in bulk materials and provide more attractive potential to realize the magnetoelectric functions. Here we perform a first-principles study on LaAlO3/PbTiO3 superlattices. Although neither of the components is magnetic, magnetic moments emerge at the ferroelectric domain walls of PbTiO3 in these superlattices. Such a twist between ferroelectric domain and local magnetic moment, not only manifests an interesting type of multiferroicity, but also is possible useful to pursuit the electrical-control of magnetism in nanoscale heterostructures.
1] Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China [2] School of Science, Nantong University, Nantong 226007, China.
P X
PX
Zhou
Department of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China.
S
S
Dong
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
H M
HM
Liu
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
C Y
CY
Ma
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Z B
ZB
Yan
School of Science, Nantong University, Nantong 226007, China.
C G
CG
Zhong
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
J-M
JM
Liu