Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) possesses a non‐collinear spin order while the ferroelectric order breaks space inversion symmetry. This allows efficient electric‐field control of magnetism and makes it a promising candidate for applications in low‐power spintronic devices. Epitaxial strain effects have been intensively studied and exhibit significant modulation of the magnetic order in bismuthBiFeO3, but tuning its spin structure with continuously varied uniaxial strain is still lacking at this moment. Herein, in situ uniaxial tensile strain is applied to a freestanding BiFeO3 film by mechanically stretching an organic substrate. A scanning nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) microscopy is applied to image the nanoscale magnetic order in real space. The strain is continuously increased from 0% to 1.5% and four images under different strains are acquired during this period. The images show that the spin cycloid tilts by ≈12.6° when strain approaches 1.5%. A first principle calculation is processed to show that the tilting is energetically favorable under such strain. The in situ strain applying method in combination with scanning NV microscope real‐space imaging ability paves a new way in studying the coupling between magnetic order and strain in BiFeO3 films.
We present a magnetic scanning microscope equipped with a Nitrogen-Vacancy center scanning probe that has the ability to mechanically tune the strain of soft matter in-situ. The construction of the microscope and a continuous strain-tuning sample holder are discussed. An Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance protocol utilized in the imaging is described. In order to show the reliability of this microscope, the strain conduction is estimated with finite element simulation, and X-ray diffraction is required for calibration when freestanding crystal films are under consideration. A magnetic imaging result is displayed to demonstrate the nano-scale imaging capability. The microscope presented in this work is helpful in studying strain-coupled magnetic physics such as magnetic phase transition under strain and strain-tuned cycloidal orientation tilting.
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