Oxygen influence in the magnetic and the transport properties of ferroelectric/ferromagnetic heterostructures

Abstract

Oxygen vacancies in oxides nanostructures are the origin of many intriguing phenomena. We have studied the influence of the oxygen pressure in the tunneling properties of a ferroelectric barrier, Ba0.25Sr0.75TiO3 (BSTO), grown over a ferromagnetic electrode. A phenomenological model description was used to obtain critical information about the structure and electrical properties of ultra-thin BSTO layers using conductive atomic force microscopy. The BSTO layers present good insulation properties. Reducing the oxygen content increases the conductivity of the samples. The tunneling of the current carriers is probably the main conduction mechanism for samples with higher barrier thicknesses.