Depth-Resolved Profile of the Interfacial Ferromagnetism in CaMnO<sub>3</sub>/CaRuO<sub>3</sub> Superlattices
Emergent magnetic phenomena at interfaces represent a frontier in materials science, pivotal for advancing technologies in spintronics and magnetic storage. In this Letter, we utilize a suite of advanced X-ray spectroscopic and scattering techniques to investigate emergent interfacial ferromagnetism in oxide superlattices composed of antiferromagnetic CaMnO<sub>3</sub> and paramagnetic CaRuO<sub>3</sub>. Our findings demonstrate that ferromagnetism exhibits an asymmetric profile and may extend beyond the interfacial layer into multiple unit cells of CaMnO<sub>3</sub>. Complementary density functional calculations reveal that the interfacial ferromagnetism is driven by the double exchange mechanism, facilitated by charge transfer from Ru to Mn ions. Additionally, defect chemistry, particularly the presence of oxygen vacancies, can play a crucial role in modifying the magnetic moments at the interface, possibly leading to the observed asymmetry between the top and bottom CaMnO<sub>3</sub> interfacial magnetic layers. Our findings underscore the potential of manipulating interfacial ferromagnetism through point defect engineering.
Authors
- Raj K. Sah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6833-4574)
- Aria Mansouri Tehrani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1968-0379)
- Christoph Klewe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5816-5647)
- Vladimir N. Strocov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1147-8486)
- J. Chakhalian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8168-9441)
- Jay R. Paudel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3173-3018)
- A. X. Gray (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7634-4294)
- M. Kareev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8838-5608)
- Joseph Grassi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9363-5045)
- Liang Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1030-6997)
- Nicola A. Spaldin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0709-9499)
- Michael Terilli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0361-8642)
- Padraic Shafer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9363-2557)
Institutions
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Paul Scherrer Institute (CH)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Temple University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nano Letters
- Published
- 2024-11-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c02087
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.35
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- European Commission
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
- Centro Svizzero di Calcolo Scientifico
- National Supercomputing Centre Singapore
- Office of Science
- U.S. Air Force
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- H2020 European Research Council