Evidence of ferromagnetic ordering at low temperatures in epitaxial TbMnO3 thin films grown by means of DC magnetron sputtering

Abstract Thin films of the archetypal multiferroic TbMnO3 were epitaxially deposited on (0 0 1)-oriented SrTiO3 substrates by means of DC magnetron sputtering. A substrate temperature of 1053 K and an oxygen pressure of 300 Pa were determined to be appropriate growing conditions for obtaining high-quality, epitaxial TbMnO3 films using this physical growing technique. The structural and magnetic properties of ~100 nm thin TbMnO3 films were investigated. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the films are single-phase and (00l)-oriented. Rocking curves of the (0 0 2) peak confirm the good crystalline quality of the films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis confirmed that the nominal valence of the Mn ions is 3+. The films grown on the SrTiO3 substrates displayed substantial epitaxial strain, which decidedly changed the magnetic ground state of the bulk-like counterpart. In particular, the films displayed ferromagnetic-like interactions below a temperature close to the magnetic ordering temperature of the Mn3+ spins (TN ≈ 42 K). Well-defined hysteresis loops with coercive fields as high as 0.1 T were observed at 5 K. The variation of the coercive field with the temperature clearly indicated the presence of low-temperature ferromagnetism in the TMO films. The origin of the anomalous ferromagnetism in the films is discussed in terms of the strain-induced distortion generated by the lattice mismatch between the film and substrate. The reported results can give insight into accurate strategies for controlling single-phase spin-driven multiferroic states.