In Quest of a Ferromagnetic Insulator -- Structure Controlled Magnetism in Mg-Ti-O Thin Films

Abstract

Ferromagnetic insulator thin films can convey information by spin waves, avoiding charge displacement and Eddy current losses. The sparsity of high-temperature insulating ferromagnetic materials hinders the development of spin wave based devices. Stoichiometric magnesium titanate, MgTiO$_3$, has an electronic-energy-band structure in which all bands are either full or empty, being a paramagnetic insulator. The MgTiO$_3$ ilmenite consists of ordered octahedra and cation network in which one third of the octahedra are vacant, one third host magnesium and one third titanium. By giving up these characteristics, a rich variety of different magnetic structures can be formed. Our experiments and electronic-energy-band-structure computations show that the magnetic and electric properties of Mg-Ti-O films can drastically be changed and controlled by Mg- and Ti-cation arrangement and abundancy in the octahedra. Insulating titanium- and semiconducting magnesium-rich films were ferromagnetic up to elevated temperatures. The presence and origin of ferromagnetic insulating phase in the films is not apparent - the expectation, based on the well-established rules set by Goodenough and Kanamori, is paramagnetic or antiferromagnetic ordering. We show that ferro- and paramagnetic phases, possessing the same stoichiometry, can be obtained by merely rearranging the cations, thus allowing defect-free interfaces in multilayer structures.