Absence of long-range NiMn ordering in ferromagnetic La2NiMnO6 thin films.pdf

1 Absence of long-range Ni/Mn ordering in ferromagnetic La2NiMnO6 thin films M.P. Singh, C. Grygiel, W.C. Sheets, Ph. Boullay, M. Hervieu, W. Prellier,* B. Mercey, Ch. Simon, and B. Raveau Laboratoire CRISMAT, CNRS UMR 6508, ENSICAEN, 6 Bld. Maréchal Juin, F-14050 Caen, France (Dated: 07 June 2007) Epitaxial La2NiMnO6 thin films have been grown on (001)-orientated SrTiO3 using the pulsed laser deposition technique. The thin films samples are semiconducting and ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature close to 270 K, a coercive field of 920 Oe, and a saturation magnetization of 5 μB per formula unit. Transmission electron microscopy, conducted at room temperature, reveals a majority phase having “I-centered” structure with a ≈ c ≈ asub 2 and b ≈ 2asub along with minority phase domains having a “P-type” structure (asub being the lattice parameter of the cubic perovskite structure). A discussion on the absence of Ni/Mn long-range ordering, in light of recent literature on the ordered double-perovskite La2NiMnO6 is presented. 2 The double perovskite La2NiMnO6, a magnetic semiconductor, has received considerable attention recently because the material demonstrates ferromagnetic order near room temperature with a Curie temperature (TC) of 280 K.[1,2] The development of magnetic semiconductors exhibiting near room temperature ferromagnetism offers potential applications in next-generation spintronic devices, such as spin-based transistors and advanced magnetic memory storage elements. Moreover, large magnetic-field-induced changes in the resistivity and dielectric properties have been reported for single-phase samples of La2NiMnO6.[3] Materials that respond to multiple external stimuli, such as switching the dielectric constant with an applied magnetic field (magneto-dielectric effect), would enable novel device applications. Samples of La2NiMnO6 have been studied extensively for their structural and physical properties. Disagreement exists