Interfacial Control of Magnetic Properties at LaMnO3/LaNiO3 Interfaces

The functional properties of oxide heterostructures ultimately rely on how the electronic and structural mismatches occurring at interfaces are accommodated by the chosen materials combination. We discuss here LaMnO₃/LaNiO₃ heterostructures, which display an intrinsic interface structural asymmetry depending on the growth sequence. Using a variety of synchrotron-based techniques, we show that the degree of intermixing at the monolayer scale allows interface-driven properties such as charge transfer and the induced magnetic moment in the nickelate layer to be controlled. Further, our results demonstrate that the magnetic state of strained LaMnO₃ thin films dramatically depends on interface reconstructions.