Controlling spin ordering in frustrated magnets via thin film heteroepitaxy

Jodi M. Iwata-Harms, Franklin J. Wong, Urusa S. Alaan, B. J. Kirby, Julie A. Borchers, Michael F. Toney, Brittany B. Nelson-Cheeseman, Marco Liberati, Elke Arenholz, and Yuri Suzuki
Phys. Rev. B 85, 214424 – Published 20 June 2012

Abstract

Competing exchange interactions can give rise to varying degrees of frustration that manifest itself in noncollinear magnetic moment ordering or canonical geometric frustration in magnets with large ground-state degeneracies. Relieving this frustration has the potential to stabilize ground states inaccessible in the bulk. We demonstrate that heteroepitaxial lattice distortions can modify the strength of exchange interactions in thin films of the frustrated ferrimagnet, CuCr2O4. The reduction of magnetic frustration in CuCr2O4 through lattice distortions results in greater collinear spin ordering in CuCr2O4 thin films and an enhanced magnetization. We identify heteroepitaxial lattice distortions as a method to tune spin functionality and potentially lift ground-state degeneracies more broadly in frustrated magnets.

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  • Received 5 January 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.214424

©2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Jodi M. Iwata-Harms1, Franklin J. Wong1,2, Urusa S. Alaan1, B. J. Kirby3, Julie A. Borchers3, Michael F. Toney4, Brittany B. Nelson-Cheeseman1, Marco Liberati5, Elke Arenholz5, and Yuri Suzuki1,2,6

  • 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 2Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 3NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
  • 4Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
  • 5Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 6Department of Applied Physics and Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA

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Issue

Vol. 85, Iss. 21 — 1 June 2012

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