Molecular Beam Epitaxy Growth of Multiferroic YMnO₃

Multiferroic oxides have been studied extensively for a wide variety of electronic applications from quantum computing to memory storage. Hexagonal ABO₃ oxide materials are particularly promising for these applications because they couple ferroelectricity from A-site displacements with frustrated magnetism arising on their B-sites. Here we grow thin films of YMnO₃ (YMO) (0001) via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) for use in investigating the effects of indium doping on its ferroelectric behavior and ionic conductivity. We deposited an epitaxial Ir (111) electrode on a YSZ (111) substrate, then co-deposited yttria and manganese in oxygen plasma. We determined appropriate growth temperatures and rates by utilizing x-ray diffraction (XRD) and RHEED to characterize their phase, orientation, and roughness. We then used scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to verify the layering behavior of the film. Further investigation will determine ferroelectricity and ionic conductivity of the film with varied indium doping.