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epitaxial films, exchange bias effect, heterostructures, high-entropy oxides, perovskite oxide, Chromium compounds, Cobalt compounds, Electronic structure, Entropy, High resolution transmission electron microscopy, Iron compounds, Lanthanum compounds, Manganese compounds, Nickel compounds, Oxide films, Scanning electron microscopy, Strontium compounds, Transition metals, X ray absorption spectroscopy, metal ion, oxide, perovskite, transition element, Electronic.structure, Exchange bias, Exchange bias effects, Functional properties, High-entropy oxide, Magnetometry measurements, Oxide heterostructures, Perovskite oxides, Scanning transmission electron microscopy, Structural characteristics, article, controlled study, cooling, electron, entropy, epitaxy, frustration, magnetometry, normal human, scanning transmission electron microscopy, thickness, X ray absorption spectroscopy, Perovskite
Abstract:
High-entropy oxides (HEOs) have gained significant interest in recent years due to their unique structural characteristics and potential to tailor functional properties. However, the electronic structure of the HEOs currently remains vastly unknown. In this work, combining magnetometry measurements, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and element-specific X-ray absorption spectroscopy, the electronic structure and magnetic properties of the perovskite-HEO La(Cr0.2Mn0.2Fe0.2Co0.2Ni0.2)O3 epitaxial thin films are systemically studied. It is found that enhanced magnetic frustration emerges from competing exchange interactions of the five transition-metal cations with energetically favorable half-filled/full-filled electron configurations, resulting in an unprecedented large vertical exchange bias effect in the single-crystalline films. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that the La(Cr0.2Mn0.2Fe0.2Co0.2Ni0.2)O3 layer with a thickness down to 1 nm can be used as a pinning layer and strongly coupled with a ferromagnetic La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 layer, leading to a notable exchange bias and coercivity enhancement in a cooling field as small as 5 Oe. Our studies not only provide invaluable insight into the electronic structure of HEOs but also pave the way for a new era of large bias materials for spintronics devices. © 2023 American Chemical Society
