Electrical Switching and Imaging of Antiferromagnetic Spins in Perovskite Epitaxial Thin Films

Lanier, Joseph; Michel, Justin; Russell, Daniel; Liu, Binzhi; Kronast, Florian; Achinuq, Barat; Hwang, Jinwoo; Yang, Fengyuan

doi:10.1021/acsnano.5c18420

Electrical Switching and Imaging of Antiferromagnetic Spins in Perovskite Epitaxial Thin Films

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2026 · ACS Nano

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5c18420· OSTI ID:3013539

Lanier, Joseph ^[1]; Michel, Justin ^[1]; Russell, Daniel ^[1]; Liu, Binzhi ^[1]; Kronast, Florian ^[2]; Achinuq, Barat ^[3]; ^[1]; ^[1]

The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (Germany)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Electrical control of antiferromagnets is essential for the field of antiferromagnetic spintronics that promises ultrafast speed and terahertz dynamics. However, the large family of complex oxide antiferromagnets such as perovskites have been largely unexplored. Here, we demonstrate electrical switching and detection of Néel vector in LaFeO₃ epitaxial thin films with an epitaxy-enabled biaxial anisotropy, of which the switching behavior is understood by comparing to magnetic field controlled spin Hall magnetoresistance measurements. The electrical switching is corroborated by imaging of antiferromagnetic domains using X-ray Magnetic Linear Dichroism Photoemission Electron Microscopy. Electrical switching of 3-nm and 10-nm LaFeO₃ films was achieved over a wide temperature range of 25 to 300 K. This work offers an attractive platform for exploration of antiferromagnetic spintronics and other emerging phenomena such as potential insulating altermagnetism.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (Germany); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: NSF MRSEC; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001304

OSTI ID:: 3013539

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 3000517

Journal Information:: ACS Nano, Journal Name: ACS Nano Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 20; ISSN 1936-086X; ISSN 1936-0851

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Electrical Switching and Imaging of Antiferromagnetic Spins in Perovskite Epitaxial Thin Films

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