The biaxial strain dependence of magnetic order in spin frustrated Mn 3 NiN thin films

Boldrin, D. et al. (2019) The biaxial strain dependence of magnetic order in spin frustrated Mn 3 NiN thin films. Advanced Functional Materials, 29(40), 1902502. (doi: 10.1002/adfm.201902502)

Abstract

Multicomponent magnetic phase diagrams are a key property of functional materials for a variety of uses, such as manipulation of magnetization for energy efficient memory, data storage, and cooling applications. Strong spin‐lattice coupling extends this functionality further by allowing electric‐field‐control of magnetization via strain coupling with a piezoelectric. Here this work explores the magnetic phase diagram of piezomagnetic Mn3NiN thin films, with a frustrated noncollinear antiferromagnetic (AFM) structure, as a function of the growth induced biaxial strain. Under compressive strain, the films support a canted AFM state with large coercivity of the transverse anomalous Hall resistivity, ρxy, at low temperature, that transforms at a well‐defined Néel transition temperature (TN) into a soft ferrimagnetic‐like (FIM) state at high temperatures. In stark contrast, under tensile strain, the low temperature canted AFM phase transitions to a state where ρxy is an order of magnitude smaller and therefore consistent with a low magnetization phase. Neutron scattering confirms that the high temperature FIM‐like phase of compressively strained films is magnetically ordered and the transition at TN is first‐order. The results open the field toward future exploration of electric‐field‐driven piezospintronic and thin film caloric cooling applications in both Mn3NiN itself and the broader Mn3AN family.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding: support from the Henry Royce Institute through the EPSRC grant EP/R00661X/1. L.F.C. acknowledges support from the Leverhulme Trust Grant ref RPG-2016-306.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Boldrin, Dr David
• Authors: Boldrin, D., Johnson, F., Thompson, R., Mihai, A. P., Zou, B., Zemen, J., Griffiths, J., Gubeljak, P., Ormandy, K. L., Manuel, P., Khalyavin, D. D., Ouladdiaf, B., Qureshi, N., Petrov, P., Branford, W., and Cohen, L. F.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Advanced Functional Materials
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 1616-301X
• ISSN (Online): 1616-3028
• Published Online: 09 August 2019
• Copyright Holders: © 2019 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA
• First Published: First published in Advanced Functional Materials 29(40):1902502
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy