Growth and magnetoelectric properties of (00l)-oriented La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 heterostructure films

C-axis oriented La0.67Sr0.33MnO3(LSMO)/PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3(PZT) films are fabricated successfully by sol-gel method on LaAlO3 (00l) substrates. The structure, composition and morphology of the films are investigated by X-ray diffractometer (XRD, θ-2θ scan, ω-scan and ϕ-scan), X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The electric and magnetic properties of randomly and c-axis oriented LSMO/PZT films are studied comparably using ferroelectric testing apparatus and physical property measurement system (PPMS). It is found that the epitaxial LSMO/PZT composite films show well controlled growth along c-axis, and much better magnetoelectric properties than the randomly oriented ones. The ME voltage coefficient increases from 23 mV cm− 1 Oe− 1 for the randomly oriented LSMO/PZT composite films to 52 mV cm− 1 Oe− 1 for c-axis oriented ones prepared using the low cost sol-gel method presented in this study, which shows high potential in promising applications.