Mechanical strain-tuned magnetism and AFM Neel temperature by 90 K in PrVO3 thin films

The transition-metal oxides with ABO3 type perovskite structure show a strong coupling between spin-orbital and lattice degrees of freedom. Here, we present an experimental study of magnetic response to the residual strain in PVO thin films by growing PVO films on a variety of single crystal substrates and by varying PVO film thickness on a single crystal substrate. PrVO3 in bulk, being a strong anti-ferromagnet shows TN~ 130 K [1]. Our study reveals that the lattice distortion via misfit strain pave the way towards tuning the anti-ferromagnetic ordering temperature in PrVO3 thin films, resulting in a non-trivial evolution of the Neel temperature (TN) with substrate pseudo-cubic lattice parameter and PVO film thickness. We demonstrate that the strain produced via mechanical strain engineering, tune TN of PVO films in the range of 90 K. Moreover, we also show that PVO thin films show low temperature ferromagnetic behavior along with the insulating properties irrespective of the substrate.
[1] Sage M H et. al. Phys. Rev. B 76 195102 (2007)