STRUCTURAL AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF YMNO3 THIN FILM PREPARED BY CHEMICAL SOLUTION METHOD

Abstract

The coupling between the magnetic and electric dipolar orders, which enables to control the electric polarization with magnetic field and vice-versa, has opened new trends in multifunctional device design. The extensive study of the physical properties of magnetoelectric or multiferroic material has been carried out mainly in both single crystals and ceramic samples. However, for technological applications, thin films and nano-structured systems are much more attractive. Magnetoelectric or multiferroic thin films have been processed using a variety of growth techniques, including r.f. sputtering, pulsed laser ablation, molecular bean epitaxy and chemical solution deposition. The latter method is a quite promising one, as it provides higher composition control, lower deposition temperatures, shorter fabrication time and relative lower cost. In this work, we report the preparation of YMnO3 thin films by chemical solution deposition onto platinized silicon substrates. In order to charact