title: Direct Observation of Magnetic Field Induced Ferroelectric Domain Evolution in Self-Assembled Quasi (0-3) BiFeO3-CoFe2O4 Thin Films.
abstract: Strain-mediated magnetoelectric (ME) coupling effect is expected in self-assembly heterostructures engineered by ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials, contributing to the enhanced overall magnetoelectric effect. Microstructures as well as the connectivity configuration are considered to play a significant role in achieving efficient magnetoelectric properties. Different from the conventional (1-3) and (2-2) type composite films, we fabricate BiFeO3-CoFe2O4 (BFO-CFO) composite thin films with a novel quasi (0-3) type connectivity via a dual-target pulsed laser deposition process. The self-assembly growth mechanism has been studied, which demonstrates that the perovskite (BFO) matrix segments the connectivity of spinel (CFO) resulting in a quasi (0-3) composite. Direct observation of ferroelectric domain wall motion under external magnetic fields proves a strong magnetoelectric coupling effect in these (0-3) thin films. Our preliminary findings reveal the promising application potential of this new structure as multiferroic domain wall devices.
authors.affiliation: Multi-disciplinary Materials Research Center, Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, China.
authors.forename: Linglong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education & International Center for Dielectric Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Multi-disciplinary Materials Research Center, Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, China.
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Multi-disciplinary Materials Research Center, Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, China.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education & International Center for Dielectric Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, China.
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Junyi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.affiliation: Multi-disciplinary Materials Research Center, Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, China.
authors.forename: Yaodong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: domain wall motion; epitaxial growth; nanocomposites; piezoresponse force microscopy; self-assemble