Abstract
We report the observation of weak magnetism in superlattices of LaAlO 3/SrTiO3 using β-detected nuclear magnetic resonance. The spin lattice relaxation rate of Li8 in superlattices with a spacer layers of 8 and 6 unit cells of LaAlO3 exhibits a strong peak near ∼35 K, whereas no such peak is observed in a superlattice with spacer layer thickness of 3 unit cells. We attribute the observed temperature dependence to slowing down of weakly coupled electronic moments at the LaAlO 3/SrTiO3 interface. These results show that the magnetism at the interface depends strongly on the thickness of the spacer layer, and that a minimal thickness of ∼4-6 unit cells is required for the appearance of magnetism. A simple model is used to determine that the observed relaxation is due to small fluctuating moments (∼0.002μB) in the two samples with a larger LaAlO3 spacer thickness.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 257207 |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 109 |
Issue number | 25 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 20 Dec 2012 |