Ptychographic Nanoscale Imaging of the Magnetoelectric Coupling in Freestanding BiFeO3

Tim A. Butcher, Nicholas W. Phillips, Chun Chien Chiu, Chia Chun Wei, Sheng Zhu Ho, Yi Chun Chen, Erik Fröjdh, Filippo Baruffaldi, Maria Carulla, Jiaguo Zhang, Anna Bergamaschi, Carlos A.F. Vaz, Armin Kleibert, Simone Finizio, Jan Chi Yang, Shih Wen Huang, Jörg Raabe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Understanding the magnetic and ferroelectric ordering of magnetoelectric multiferroic materials at the nanoscale necessitates a versatile imaging method with high spatial resolution. Here, soft X-ray ptychography is employed to simultaneously image the ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic domains in an 80 nm thin freestanding film of the room-temperature multiferroic BiFeO3 (BFO). The antiferromagnetic spin cycloid of period 64 nm is resolved by reconstructing the corresponding resonant elastic X-ray scattering in real space and visualized together with mosaic-like ferroelectric domains in a linear dichroic contrast image at the Fe L3 edge. The measurements reveal a near perfect coupling between the antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric ordering by which the propagation direction of the spin cycloid is locked orthogonally to the ferroelectric polarization. In addition, the study evinces both a preference for in-plane propagation of the spin cycloid and changes of the ferroelectric polarization by 71° between multiferroic domains in the epitaxial strain-free, freestanding BFO film. The results provide a direct visualization of the strong magnetoelectric coupling in BFO and of its fine multiferroic domain structure, emphasizing the potential of ptychographic imaging for the study of multiferroics and non-collinear magnetic materials with soft X-rays.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2311157
JournalAdvanced Materials
Volume36
Issue number23
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024 Jun 6

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Materials Science
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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