Emergence of Interfacial Magnetism in Strongly‐Correlated Nickelate‐Titanate Superlattices
Strongly-correlated transition-metal oxides are widely known for their various exotic phenomena. This is exemplified by rare-earth nickelates such as LaNiO<sub>3</sub>, which possess intimate interconnections between their electronic, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom. Their properties can be further enhanced by pairing them in hybrid heterostructures, which can lead to hidden phases and emergent phenomena. An important example is the LaNiO<sub>3</sub>/LaTiO<sub>3</sub> superlattice, where an interlayer electron transfer has been observed from LaTiO<sub>3</sub> into LaNiO<sub>3</sub> leading to a high-spin state. However, macroscopic emergence of magnetic order associated with this high-spin state has so far not been observed. Here, by using muon spin rotation, x-ray absorption, and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, direct evidence of an emergent antiferromagnetic order with high magnon energy and exchange interactions at the LaNiO<sub>3</sub>/LaTiO<sub>3</sub> interface is presented. As the magnetism is purely interfacial, a single LaNiO<sub>3</sub>/LaTiO<sub>3</sub> interface can essentially behave as an atomically thin strongly-correlated quasi-2D antiferromagnet, potentially allowing its technological utilization in advanced spintronic devices. Furthermore, its strong quasi-2D magnetic correlations, orbitally-polarized planar ligand holes, and layered superlattice design make its electronic, magnetic, and lattice configurations resemble the precursor states of superconducting cuprates and nickelates, but with an S→1 spin state instead.
Authors
- Thorsten Schmitt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5737-1094)
- Stefano Agrestini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3625-880X)
- Thomas Prokscha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7643-4695)
- Andreas Suter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9214-6474)
- Davide Betto
- Z. Salman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3431-8135)
- Wei Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3951-1719)
- Ke‐Jin Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9293-0595)
- Yi Tseng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6788-4398)
- Mirian García‐Fernández (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6982-9066)
- C. W. Galdino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4786-344X)
- Y. Maximilian Klein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7109-8090)
- M. Medarde (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1588-2870)
- N. B. Brookes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1342-9530)
- M. Radović (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4042-9648)
- Robert J. Green (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1849-1576)
- Grant Harris
- Tianlun Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8973-2782)
- Daniel Knez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0755-958X)
- E. Müller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8239-7109)
- Teguh Citra Asmara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1359-734X)
- Wenliang Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3278-4076)
- Neeraj Kumar
- Yona Soh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3108-2814)
Institutions
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (FR)
- Paul Scherrer Institute (CH)
- Diamond Light Source (GB)
- University of Saskatchewan (CA)
- Graz University of Technology (AT)
- Austrian Centre for Electron Microscopy and Nanoanalysis (AT)
- European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2024-08-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202310668
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.12
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Diamond Light Source
- European Commission
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Paul Scherrer Institut
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- H2020 European Research Council