Coherent piezoelectric strain transfer to thick epitaxial ferromagnetic films with large lattice mismatch

Strain control of epitaxial films using piezoelectric substrates has recently attracted significant scientific interest. Despite its potential as a powerful test bed for strain-related physical phenomena and strain-driven electronic, magnetic, and optical technologies, detailed studies on the efficiency and uniformity of piezoelectric strain transfer are scarce. Here, we demonstrate that full and uniform piezoelectric strain transfer to epitaxial films is not limited to systems with small lattice mismatch or limited film thickness. Detailed transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements of 100 nm thick CoFe₂O₄ and La ₂/3Sr₁/3MnO₃ epitaxial films on piezoelectric 0.72Pb(Mg₁/3Nb_2/3)O_3-0.28PbTiO₃ substrates (+4.3% and -3.8% lattice mismatch) indicate that misfit dislocations near the interface do not hamper the transfer of piezoelectric strain. Instead, the epitaxial magnetic oxide films and PMN-PT substrates are strained coherently and their lattice parameters change linearly as a function of applied electric field when their remnant growth-induced strain state is negligible. As a result, ferromagnetic properties such as the coercive field, saturation magnetization, and Curie temperature can be reversibly tuned by electrical means. The observation of efficient piezoelectric strain transfer in large-mismatch heteroepitaxial structures opens up new possibilities for the engineering of strain-controlled physical properties in a broad class of hybrid material systems.