Robust Interfacial Exchange Bias and Metal-Insulator Transition Influenced by the LaNiO Layer Thickness in LaSrMnO/LaNiO Superlattices.

Artificial heterostructures based on LaNiO (LNO) have been widely investigated with the aim to realize the insulating antiferromagnetic state of LNO. In this work, we grew [(LaSrMnO)-(LaNiO)] superlattices on (001)-oriented SrTiO substrates by pulsed laser deposition and observed an unexpected exchange bias effect in field-cooled hysteresis loops. Through X-ray absorption spectroscopy and magnetic circular dichroism experiments, we found that the charge transfer at the interfacial Mn and Ni ions can induce a localized magnetic moment. A remarkable increase of exchange bias field and a transition from metal to insulator were simultaneously observed upon decreasing the thickness of the LNO layer, indicating the antiferromagnetic insulator state in 2 unit cells LNO ultrathin layers. The robust exchange bias of 745 Oe in the superlattice is caused by an interfacial localized magnetic moment and an antiferromagnetic state in the ultrathin LNO layer, pinning the ferromagnetic LaSrMnO layers together. Our results demonstrate that artificial interface engineering is a useful method to realize novel magnetic and transport properties.