Manifestation of asymmetric manganite-ruthenate interfaces
Phys. Rev. B 114, 034409 – Published 6 July, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/mxfx-fg4f
Abstract
Interfacial magnetism in complex oxide heterostructures underlies both fundamental many-body physics and advanced spintronic applications. Here we report a pronounced stacking-order dependence of magnetic coupling in (LCMO/SRO) bilayers. While Ru–O–Mn superexchange drives antiparallel spin alignment between interfacial Ru and Mn moments, macroscopic antiferromagnetic correlations emerge only within a proper thickness ratio range, consistent with first-principles calculations. Ferromagnetic enhancement—manifested as a significant increase in Curie temperature ()—occurs exclusively when LCMO is grown atop SRO, vanishing in the inverse stack. Atomically resolved structural analysis attributes this unidirectional phenomenon to suppressed Jahn-Teller distortions and preferential in-plane orientation of the LCMO crystallographic axis in the LCMO grown on SRO configuration, which together strengthen double-exchange interactions. Control experiments rule out interfacial charge transfer and Sr interdiffusion as primary mechanisms. These findings establish that stacking-sequence–induced structural asymmetry serves as a dominant control parameter for interfacial ferromagnetism, offering a deterministic route to engineer correlated oxide heterostructures.