材料期刊网

Epitaxial orthorhombic La(0.5)Lu(0.5)Ni(0.5)Mn(0.5)O(3) (LLNMO) thin films deposited on Nb:SrTiO(3) (NSTO) substrates are prepared by pulsed laser deposition and their ferroelectricity and magnetism are investigated using various techniques. It is revealed that the as-prepared thin films are ferromagnetic (FM) insulators. The FM transition occurring at similar to 125 K is evidenced by the well defined hysteresis at low temperature, with a saturated magnetic moment as high as 1.8 mu(B)/f.u. at similar to 5 K. A reversible ferroelectric polarization of similar to 0.2 mu C cm(-2) below similar to 140 K is also observed. The magnetism can be understood by the FM ordering associated with a partially ordered major Ni(2+)-Mn(4+) plus minor Mn(3+)-Ni(3+) configuration, while the ferroelectricity is argued to originate from the A-site disordering of La(3+) and Lu(3+).