Interfacial Control of Magnetic Properties at LaMnO$_{\mathrm{3}}$/LaNiO$_{\mathrm{3}}$ 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 LaMnO$_{\mathrm{3}}$/LaNiO$_{\mathrm{3}}$ heterostructures, which display an intrinsic interface structural asymmetry depending on the growth sequence with the LaMnO$_{\mathrm{3}}$-on-LaNiO$_{\mathrm{3}}$ interface being sharper than the LaNiO$_{\mathrm{3}}$-on-LaMnO$_{\mathrm{3}}$ one, which exhibits 2-3 unit cells intermixing [1]. 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 LaMnO$_{\mathrm{3}}$ thin films dramatically depends on interface reconstructions. [1] Gibert \textit{et al., }NanoLetters in press.