Flexomagnetism of thin Cr2O3 films

Cr2O3 is the only known uniaxial antiferromagnetic material that is also magnetoelectric at room temperature. This renders Cr2O3 a technologically relevant playground for the realisation of different device ideas for prospective antiferromagnetic spintronics. We discovered the presence of flexomagnetic effects in Cr2O3, which come about due to the impact of a strain gradient on the thermodynamic properties, namely on the Neel temperature. By combining magnetotransport and Nitrogen Vacancy magnetometry characterizations, we experimentally determine the presence of the gradient of the Neel temperature in a 50-nm-thick Cr2O3 thin film and quantify that the magnetic moment, generated by this new effect, can be as high as 15 μB/nm2. Furthermore, due to good oxide-oxide heteroepitaxy and respective compressive strain, the Neel temperature in Cr2O3 thin films can be enhanced persistently up to 100degC, which is 60degC higher than the bulk transition temperature. The emergent flexomagnetism-driven ferromagnetic order parameter in antiferromagnetic thin films offers more flexibility in the design of spintronic and magnonic devices and can be of relevance for other antiferromagnetic materials.

P. Makushko, T. Kosub, O. V. Pylypovskyi et al., Nature Communications (2022), in press.