Interfacial Control of Ferromagnetism in Ultrathin La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ Sandwiched between CaRu_1–<i>x</i>Ti_<i>x</i>O₃ (<i>x</i> = 0–0.8) Epilayers

Abstract

Controlling functionalities in oxide heterostructures remains challenging for the rather complex interfacial interactions. Here, by modifying the interface properties with chemical doping, we achieve a nontrivial control over the ferromagnetism in ultrathin La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ (LCMO) layer sandwiched between CaRu_1-xTi_xO₃ [CRTO(x)] epilayers. The Ti doping suppresses the interfacial electron transfer from CRTO(x) to LCMO side; as a result, a steadily decreased Curie temperature with increasing x, from 262 K at x = 0 to 186 K at x = 0.8, is observed for the structures with LCMO fixed at 3.2 nm. Moreover, for more insulating CRTO(x ≥ 0.5), the electron confinement induces an interfacial Mn-e_g(x²-y²) orbital order in LCMO which further attenuates the ferromagnetism. Also, in order to characterize the heterointerfaces, for the first time the doping- and thickness-dependent metal-insulator transitions in CRTO(x) films are examined. Our results demonstrate that the LCMO/CRTO(x) heterostructure could be a model system for investigating the interfacial multiple interactions in correlated oxides.