Complete vertical M-H loop shift in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrRuO3 thin film heterostructures

In the current work, we have epitaxially integrated La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrRuO3 (LSMO/SRO) BLs with the technologically important substrate Si (100) using pulsed laser deposition. Interestingly, at 4K, under the magnetic field sweep of +/- 1500 Oe, a complete vertical M-H loop shift is observed in the sample prepared with 180 nm SRO thickness, which is unusual. This vertical shift persists even up to a field sweep range of +/- 6000 Oe, at which point the shift disappears and a symmetrical hysteresis loop centered at the origin is observed. In contrast, at the same temperature, under the same field sweep range, we observe a normal M-H loop (no or little vertical shift) from the sample with 45 nm SRO thickness. In both the cases, the LSMO thickness was held constant at similar to 100 nm. It appears that SRO moment is frozen in place in the latter case, providing a clear demonstration of the effect that biasing layer (SRO) thickness can have on the magnetic characteristics of bilayer films. We attribute this vertical shift to the strong interplay between the uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy and microscopic interface domain structure. (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.