Epitaxial Stabilization of Single-Crystal Multiferroic YCrO Thin Films.

We report on the growth of stoichiometric, single-crystal YCrO epitaxial thin films on (001) SrTiO substrates using pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy reveal that the films grew in a layer-by-layer fashion with excellent crystallinity and atomically smooth surfaces. Magnetization measurements demonstrate that the material is ferromagnetic below 144 K. The temperature dependence of dielectric permittivity shows a characteristic relaxor-ferroelectric behavior at = 375-408 K. A dielectric anomaly at the magnetic transition temperature indicates a close correlation between magnetic and electric order parameters in these multiferroic YCrO films. These findings provide guidance to synthesize rare-earth, chromite-based multifunctional heterostructures and build a foundation for future studies on the understanding of magnetoelectric effects in similar material systems.