Investigation of biferroic properties in La0.6Sr0.4MnO3/0.7 Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 0.3 PbTiO3 epitaxial bilayered heterostructures

Epitaxial bilayered thin films consisting of La0.6Sr0.4MnO3 (LSMO) and 0.7 Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 0.3 PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) layers of relatively different thicknesses were fabricated on LaNiO3 coated LaAlO3 (100) single crystal substrates by pulsed laser ablation technique. Ferroelectric and ferromagnetic characteristics of these heterostructures confirmed their biferroic nature. The magnetization and ferroelectric polarization of the bilayered heterostructures were enhanced with increasing PMN-PT layer thickness owing to the effect of lattice strain. Dielectric properties of these heterostructures studied over a wide range of temperature under different magnetic field strength suggested a possible role of elastic strain mediated magnetoelectric coupling behind the observed magneto-dielectric effect in addition to the influence of rearrangement of the interfacial charge carriers under an applied magnetic field.