Browsing by Author "Ramesh, V"

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    Complex magnetic structure in strained nanoscale bismuth ferrite thin films
    (Australian Institute of Physics, 2016-02-02) Ulrich, C; Bertinshaw, J; Maran, R; Callori, SJ; Ramesh, V; Cheng, J; Danilkin, SA; Hu, S; Siedel, J; Valanoor, N
    Multiferroic materials demonstrate excellent potential for next-generation multifunctional devices, as they exhibit coexisting ferroelectric and magnetic orders. Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) is a rare exemption where both order parameters coexist far beyond room temperature, making it the ideal candidate for technological applications. In particular, multiferroic thin films are the most promising pathway for spintronics applications. Therefore we have investigated BiFeO3 thin films by neutron diffraction. At present, the underlying physics of the magnetoelectric coupling is not fully understood and competing theories exist with partly conflicting predictions. For example, the existence of spin cycloid is a mandatory requirement to establish a direct magnetoelectric coupling. Thus far internal strain in epitaxially grown films has limited the stability of the spin cycloid for BiFeO3 films with less than 300 nm thickness, causing the spin cycloid to collapses to a collinear G-type antiferromagnetic structure. Our neutron diffraction experiments have demonstrated that we were able to realize a spin cycloid in films of just 100 nm thickness through improved electrostatic and epitaxial constraints. This underlines the importance of the correct mechanical and electrical boundary conditions required to achieve emergent spin properties in mutiferroic thin film systems. The discovery of a large scale uniform cycloid in thin film BiFeO3 opens new avenues for fundamental research and technical applications that exploit the spin cycloid in spintronic or magnonic devices.
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    Direct evidence for the spin cycloid in strained nanoscale bismuth ferrite thin films
    (Australian Institute of Physics, 2017-01-31) Bertinshaw, J; Maran, R; Callori, SJ; Ramesh, V; Cheung, J; Dainlkin, SA; Lee, WT; Hu, S; Seidel, J; Valanoor, N; Ulrich, C
    Multiferroic materials demonstrate excellent potential for next-generation multifunctional devices, as they exhibit coexisting ferroelectric and magnetic orders. Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) is a rare exemption where both order parameters exist far beyond room temperature, making it the ideal candidate for technological applications. In particular, magnonic devices that utilize electric control of spin waves mediated by complex spin textures are an emerging direction in spintronics research. To realize magnonic devices, a robust long-range spin cycloid with well known direction is desired, since it is a prerequisite for the magnetoelectric coupling. Despite extensive investigation, the stabilization of a large-scale uniform spin cycloid in nanoscale (100 nm) thin BiFeO3 films has not been accomplished. Here, we demonstrate cycloidal spin order in 100 nm BiFeO3 thin films through the careful choice of crystallographic orientation, and control of the electrostatic and strain boundary conditions during growth [1]. Neutron diffraction, in conjunction with X-ray diffraction, reveals an incommensurate spin cycloid with a unique [112] propagation direction. While this direction is different from bulk BiFeO3, the cycloid length and Néel temperature remain equivalent to bulk single crystals. The discovery of a large scale uniform cycloid in thin film BiFeO3 opens new avenues for fundamental research and technical applications that exploit the spin cycloid in spintronic or magnonic devices.
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    Polarised neutron diffraction study of the spin cycloid in strained nanoscale bismuth ferrite thin films
    (Australian Institute of Physics, 2017-01-31) Lee, WT; Bertinshaw, J; Maran, R; Callori, SJ; Ramesh, V; Cheung, J; Danilkin, SA; Hu, S; Seidel, J; Valanoor, N; Ulrich, C
    Polarised neutron scattering is capable of separating magnetic structure from chemical structure. Here we report an experiment using the newly available capability at ANSTO, namely polarised neutron diffraction using polarised 3He neutron spin-filters to obtain the detail magnetic structure in even highly complex magnetic materials. Magnonic devices that utilize electric control of spin waves mediated by complex spin textures are an emerging direction in spintronics research. Room-temperature multiferroic materials, such as BiFeO3, with a spin cycloidal structure would be ideal candidates for this purpose. In order to realise magnonic devices, a robust long-range spin cycloid with well-known direction is desired. Despite extensive investigation, the stabilization of a large scale uniform spin cycloid in nanoscale (100 nm) thin BiFeO3 films has not been accomplished. The polarized neutron diffraction experiment did confirm the existence of the spin cycloid in this BiFeO3 film, which is an important prerequisite for the multiferroic coupling.