Evolution of electric polarization and magnetic properties in half-Cr-doped YMnO3 films in response to epitaxial strain

Half-Cr-doped YMnO3 single crystal films have been grown on YAlO3 substrates with various compressive strains by using magneto sputtering and ex-situ annealing process. We report on effects of the compressive strain on their multiferroic properties. Anisotropic polarization shows a monotonous dependence on the compressive strain along the corresponding crystal axis. Furthermore, relative ratio between the remanent magnetic moments along the a- and c-axes is found to be strongly related to the lattice parameter c. These results are ascribed to the modification of magnetic structure under various compressive strains, i.e., the compressive strains along the a- and c-axes predominantly stabilize the E-type antiferromagnetic and bc-cycloidal phases, respectively.