Recent progress in nanostructured multiferroic Bi2FeCrO6 thin films

We report the latest progress on the growth and characterization of Bi2FeCrO6 (BFCO), a recently discovered multiferroic system. BFCO thin films and nanostructures exhibit exceptional multiferroic properties at room temperature. The growth of pure BFCO thin films on STO substrates is possible only in a narrow window of deposition parameters (i.e., Oxygen pressure pO(2)= 1.2 x 10(-2) mbar and around a substrate temperature T-S = 680 degrees C). The epitaxial growth stabilizes the metastable single phase of this material and promotes the Fe/Cr cation ordering in both thin films and nanostructures. This cationic ordering which is responsible for good magnetic properties of BFCO is also at the origin of pronounced photovoltaic (PV) properties observed in the epitaxial films grown on STO substrates. The results indicate that the ferroelectric polarization plays a dominant role in the observed PV effect. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.