Numerous studies have been structured to investigate magnetoelectric multiferroic materials, which possess simultaneous ferroelectric and (anti)ferromagnetic ordering. Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3), referred to as BFO, has drawn special attention because of its unique ability to maintain both electric and magnetic dipole moments at room temperature. BFO shows great potential to revolutionize the microelectronics industry, but there are impediments to its application in devices. This study was designed to use high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and low-angle x-ray reflectivity (XRR) techniques to investigate the single-crystal quality of a BFO thin film. The BFO thin film was grown by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) on a strontium ruthenate (SrRuO3) (referred to as SRO) intermediate layer, which was grown atop an (001)- oriented strontium titanate (SrTiO3 referred to as STO) substrate. X-ray characterization techniques found the BFO film to experience contraction strain in the transverse direction and extension strain in the axial direction; therefore, it was concluded that the BFO thin film was, relatively speaking, coherently strained. Additionally, the film showed a minute mosaic, indicating it was a high-quality thin film with good singlecrystal attributes. Further studies are needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SRO layer on the single-crystal growth of the BFO thin film. Future research should also include a systematic study comparing the growth of BFO thin films across different growth techniques.

Last modified

• 07/19/2018

Creator

• Michael Bedzyk
• Brian Mikolajczyk
• Jeffrey Klug

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/N2SH97

Keyword

• Volume 5

Date created

• 2008

Resource type

• Article

Rights statement

• In Copyright