Tuning Orbital and Magnetic Interactions through Strain at Complex Oxide Interfaces

Transition metal complex oxide possess a plethora of exotic properties including superconductivity, ferroelectricity and magnetic and metal-insulator transitions. These interesting properties arise due to the interplay between structural, electronic, spin and orbital degrees of freedom. The ability to combine atomic layers of different complex oxides using molecular beam epitaxy has led to the emergence of novel functional properties due to the coupling of order parameters at the resulting interfaces. In this talk, the emergence of orbital and spin ordering at the interfaces between atomic layers of La0_.7Sr_0.3CrO₃ and La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ will be discussed. Using a combination of atomic-scale synchrotron diffraction-based imaging, soft X-ray magnetic spectroscopy and temperature-dependent magnometry, we show that the orbital and spin ordering can be modulated by epitaxial strain leading to the confinement of ferromagnetism in two-dimensional magnetic oxide layers.