Oxygen pressure modulated magnetism and magnetic anisotropy of epitaxial transparent Yb2Ti2O7 pyrochlore films

作     者：Ming-Yuan Yan Zhen-Tao Pang Zhao-Cai Wang Zhong-Nan Xi Li- Da Chen Xiao-Yu Zhang Yu-Qi Wang Ren-Kui Zheng Yu Deng Shan-Tao Zhang 

作者机构：National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures College of Engineering and Applied Science & Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials & Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures Nanjing University Nanjing 210093 China School of Materials Science and Engineering and Jiangxi Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Functional Thin Films Nanchang University Nanchang 330031 China School of Physics and Materials Science Guangzhou University Guangzhou 510006 China 

出 版 物：《Physical Review B》 (物理学评论B辑：凝聚态物质与材料物理学)

年 卷 期：2023年第108卷第9期

页      面：094105-094105页

核心收录：

学科分类：07[理学] 0702[理学-物理学] 

基　　金：National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC, (12174179, 51721001) National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, (BK20221251) Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province Nanjing University, NJU National Key Research and Development Program of China, NKRDPC, (2020YFA0711504) National Key Research and Development Program of China, NKRDPC 

主　　题：Defects Magnetic anisotropy Interfaces Magnetic thin films 

摘      要：Pyrochlore Yb2Ti2O7 has gained significant attention due to the low-temperature geometrical frustration induced unusual magnetic phase. Most experimental studies on Yb2Ti2O7 have been performed on polycrystalline bulk or single crystals; however, there have been a few reports detailing the structure and magnetism of Yb2Ti2O7 thin films. Here, we fabricated high-quality (001)-, (110)-, and (111)-epitaxial transparent Yb2Ti2O7 films on single-crystal yttria-stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ) substrates with various oxygen pressures by pulsed laser deposition. Structural characterizations confirm flat surface and uniform and well-defined atomic arrangement of the Yb2Ti2O7 films, as well as atomic-scale epitaxial and sharp Yb2Ti2O7/YSZ interface. The (111) oriented films fabricated at 10 Pa oxygen pressure have the highest magnetization value of 2.03μB/Yb, which is higher than that of bulk counterparts, due to the fact that the distorted Yb-tetrahedra induced by interfacial strain and defects can destroy magnetic frustration and enhance magnetization. Especially, the fabricated (001)-, (110)-, and (111)-epitaxial Yb2Ti2O7 films illustrate a significantly pronounced magnetic anisotropy, which results from the single ion anisotropy of Yb and the anisotropic exchange interactions. In addition, a wide-spectrum transmittance of ∼95% was achieved in (110)-epitaxial Yb2Ti2O7 films, which is comparable to the state-of-the-art transparent materials. Our work gives a comprehensive perspective on the structure, magnetism, magnetic anisotropy, and transmittance of Yb2Ti2O7 films, which may guide further work on pyrochlore materials.