Relevance of Platinum Underlayer Crystal Quality for the Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of the Heterostructures YbFeO/Pt/YSZ(111)

The hexagonal ferrite h-YbFeO grown on YSZ(111) by pulsed laser deposition is foreseen as a promising single multiferroic candidate where ferroelectricity and antiferromagnetism coexist for future applications at low temperatures. We studied in detail the microstructure as well as the temperature dependence of the magnetic properties of the devices by comparing the heterostructures grown directly on YSZ(111) (i.e., YbPt_Th0nm) with h-YbFeO films deposited on substrates buffered with platinum Pt/YSZ(111) and in dependence on the Pt underlayer film thickness (i.e., YbPt_Th10nm, YbPt_Th40nm, YbPt_Th55nm, and YbPt_Th70nm). The goal was to deeply understand the importance of the crystal quality and morphology of the Pt underlayer for the h-YbFeO layer crystal quality, surface morphology, and the resulting physical properties. We demonstrate the relevance of homogeneity, continuity, and hillock formation of the Pt layer for the h-YbFeO microstructure in terms of crystal structure, mosaicity, grain boundaries, and defect distribution. The findings of transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction reciprocal space mapping characterization enable us to conclude that an optimum film thickness for the Pt bottom electrode is = 70 nm, which improves the crystal quality of h-YbFeO films grown on Pt-buffered YSZ(111) in comparison with h-YbFeO films grown on YSZ(111) (i.e., YbPt_Th0nm). The latter shows a disturbance in the crystal structure, in the up-and-down atomic arrangement of the ferroelectric domains, as well as in the Yb-Fe exchange interactions. Therefore, an enhancement in the remanent and in the total magnetization was obtained at low temperatures below 50 K for h-YbFeO films deposited on Pt-buffered substrates Pt/YSZ(111) when the Pt underlayer reached = 70 nm.