Physical properties modulation of Fe₃O₄/Pb(ZrTi)O₃ heterostructure via Fe diffusion

The manipulation of material properties in perovskite oxide heterojunctions has been increasingly studied, owing to their interacting lattice, charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom. In this work, the switching, ferroelectricity and magneto-transport properties of epitaxially grown perovskite Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 layers sandwiched between Fe3O4 (top electrode) and SrRuO3 (bottom electrode) are investigated. These films show a typical ferroelectric polarization of ∼50 μC/cm(2). Once the Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 films become thinner (∼30 nm), one can set (reset) the Fe3O4/Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3/SrRuO3 structures into a low (high) resistance state via formation (rupture) of an Fe-related filament in Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 through manipulation of an electric field. Interestingly, at the low-resistance state, a prominent magnetoresistance signal of ∼3% was observed. There is no magnetoresistance signal detected in the virgin Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 film (before switching), high-resistive state Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 film and Au/Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3/SrRuO3. These phenomena are attributed to the diffusion of Fe-related ions into the Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 film, turning a non-magnetic and insulating layer of perovskite Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 into a magnetic and semiconducting-like Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3. The magneto-transport properties of Fe3O4/Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3/SrRuO3 have been studied extensively. Such resistance-ferroelectric-ferromagnetic coupling in a single compound paves the way to the realization of a non-volatile multiple-state Pb(ZrTi)O3 hybrid memory, as well as new computing approaches.