Microstructural analysis of interfaces in a ferromagnetic-multiferroic epitaxial heterostructure

Abstract

We report a study on multiferroic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3, BFO)-ferromagnetic lanthanum strontium manganese oxide (La0.7 Sr0.3 MnO 3, LSMO) epitaxial interfaces by scanning transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (STEM-EDS) and energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM). Epitaxial (001) oriented LSMO/BFO heterostructures were fabricated on a (001) strontium titanate (SrTiO 3, STO) substrate using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Different cooling conditions to room temperature (rapid or slow) were used to investigate the effect of fabrication conditions on the structural quality of the interfaces. The combined analysis of bright field transmission electron microscopy imaging, STEM-EDS and EFTEM data reveals that the LSMO-BFO heterostructure interface is free from any defects but the phases are chemically interdiffused over a length scale of ∼4 nm. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.