Weak Magnetism of Aurivillius-Type Multiferroic Thin Films Probed by Polarized Neutron Reflectivity

Published

April 27, 2018

Author(s)

Xioafang Zhai, Alexander Grutter, Yu Yun, Zhangzhang Cui, Yalin Lu

Abstract

Unambiguous magnetic characterization of room-temperature multiferroic materials remains challenging due in part to difficulty of distinguishing their very weak ferromagnetism from magnetic impurity phases and other containments. In this study, we used polarized neutron reflectivity to probe the magnetization of the Bi₆FeCoTi₃O₁₈ and LaBi₅FeCoTi₃O₁₈ in their epitaxial thin films while eliminating a variety of impurity contributions. Our results show that LaBi₅FeCoTi₃O₁₈ exhibits a magnetization of about 0.016 ±0.027 υ_Β per Fe-Co pair at room temperature. While the Bi₆FeCoTi₃O₁₈ thin film only exhibits weak magnetic moment below room temperature, with a saturation magnetization of 0.049 ± 0.015 υ_Β per Fe-Co pair at 50 K. This polarized-neutron-reflectivity study places an upper magnetization limit on the matrix material of the Aurivillius oxides and helps to clarify the true mechanism behind the room temperature multiferroic performance.

Citation

Physical Review Materials

Volume

2

Issue

4

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

Magnetism, Thin Film, Oxide, Aurivilius, Neutron Reflectometry, Multiferroic

Citation

Zhai, X. , Grutter, A. , Yun, Y. , Cui, Z. and Lu, Y. (2018), Weak Magnetism of Aurivillius-Type Multiferroic Thin Films Probed by Polarized Neutron Reflectivity, Physical Review Materials, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=925153 (Accessed October 14, 2025)