Epitaxial Growth of Orthorhombic GaFeO3 Thin Films on SrTiO3 (111) Substrates by Simple Sol-Gel Method

Abstract

A Sol-gel method assisted with spin-coating has been successfully used to grow orthorhombic GaFeO3 epitaxial films on SrTiO3 (111) substrates for the first time. The film with Pna21 crystal structure has been grown along the c-axis. The rocking curve of (004) reflection shows that the Full-Width at Half-Maximum (FWHM) value could be determined to be 0.230°, indicating good single crystallinity and high quality. X-ray Φ scan reveals a three-fold symmetry of the substrate and a six-fold symmetry of the film, respectively. The in-plane domains rotate 60° from each other in the film. Uniform film with dense structure, columnar grains with similar grain size was obtained. The thickness of the film was evaluated to be ~170 nm. The roughness value (RMS) measured by AFM was 4.5 nm, revealing a flat film. The in-plane Magnetization versus Magnetic field (M-H) curve at 5 K performs a typical ferri- or ferromagnetic hysteresis loop with a saturated magnetization (Ms) value of 136 emu/cm3. The Curie temperature could be determined to be 174 K. Compared to Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD), the sol-gel method can prepare large area films with low cost. These new films show promising applications in multiferroic devices.

Enhanced Multiferroic Properties of YFeO3 by Doping with Bi3+

“…Multiferroic that combines ferromagnetic and ferroelectric behaviors, also known as magnetoelectric multiferroic, is quite rare compared to other multiferroic materials., However, there has been considerable scientific interest for its potential applications in electronic systems, especially in storage devices for recording and reading information [2,3,4]. However, there are still many design challenges for multiferroics materials, highlighting that this behavior is exhibited only at low temperature [5]. Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO 3 ) is the first generation of multiferroic materials that combine in a single phase ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic behavior at room temperature [6,7].…”

The fluctuated structural/electronic properties of SrTiO3 two-dimensional materials caused by surface effects

“…On the other hand, STO (111) surface has good lattice matching and minimal surface defects, playing a crucial role in certain applications. For example, STO (111) surfaces are often used as 2D materials and growth substrates for surface modification [28,29]. The different surfaces of STO have different characteristics and applications.…”

Room-temperature multiferroicity in GaFeO3 thin film grown on (100)Si substrate

“…Role of epitaxial strain and disorder in the site occupancy was examined by growing films primarily on cubic or hexagonal YSZ, Al 2 O 3 , and SrTiO 3 single crystal substrates. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Formation of polar and magnetic nanodomains could be a) Electronic mail: drsudiptagoswami@gmail.com responsible for the observations in thin films. Of course, room-temperature multiferroicity has not been observed in all the cases.…”