Hexagonal Lu_1-InFeO₃ Room-Temperature Multiferroic Thin Films.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Solid State Physics
• Magnetism

Background:

• Hexagonal rare earth ferrites (h-RFeO3) are promising room-temperature multiferroics.
• Achieving a stable hexagonal structure is challenging due to the prevalence of the orthorhombic phase.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize stable hexagonal h-Lu1-xInxFeO3 thin films.
• To characterize their multiferroic properties at room temperature.
• To explore their potential for magnetoelectric devices.

Main Methods:

• Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) of h-Lu1-xInxFeO3 thin films on Nb-SrTiO3 (111) substrates.
• X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) for structural analysis.
• Ferroelectric and magnetoelectric characterization at room temperature.

Main Results:

• Stable hexagonal structure achieved for h-Lu1-xInxFeO3 in a wide composition range (x=0.5-0.7) via chemical pressure and epitaxial strain.
• Super-cell match observed between the thin film and substrate.
• Saturated ferroelectric hysteresis loop with remanent polarization of 4.3 μC/cm² and confirmed polarization switching.
• Strong magnetoelectric coupling with a linear magnetoelectric coefficient of 1.9 V/cm Oe.

Conclusions:

• The h-Lu1-xInxFeO3 thin films demonstrate stable hexagonal structures and significant room-temperature multiferroic properties.
• The observed magnetoelectric coupling is orders of magnitude higher than in h-RFeO3 ceramics.
• These findings highlight the potential of h-Lu1-xInxFeO3 thin films for applications in magnetoelectric memory and detection devices.