Observation of large electric polarization in orthorhombic TmMnO3 thin films

Abstract

High-quality orthorhombic (OT) TmMnO3 (TMO) thin films with a-axis perpendicular to the film surface are grown epitaxially on Nb-doped SrTiO3(110) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. The structural, magnetic, and electric properties of OT-TMO films are measured. We found that a strong coupling between the magnetic structure and the electric polarization. Our experimental results also show that ferroelectricity in OT-TMO thin films below 32 K. Furthermore, the large electric polarization up to 0.45 μC/cm2 is observed at 10 K, supporting a theoretical prediction of large polarization in the E-type spin structure in this system.