Growth of ferromagnetic La$_{2/3}$Ca$_{1/3}$MnO$_{3}$ / ferroelectric BaTiO$_{3}$ heterostructures

Multiferroic materials exhibiting simultaneous ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism have potential applications in information storage and in the emerging field of spintronics. Ferromagnetic / ferroelectric multilayers could be a way to obtain a multiferroic heterostructure. We addressed to deposit the ferromagnetic phase of the La$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$MnO$_{3}$ and the ferroelectric BaTiO3 seeking a multiferroic properties in these hetero structures. We have optimized the growth parameters for depositing BaTiO$_{3 }$(BTO) / La$_{2/3}$Ca$_{1/3}$MnO$_{3 }$(LCMO) / (001)SrTiO$_{3}$ by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at pure oxygen atmosphere and a substrate temperature of 820 \r{ }C. The bilayer structure and microstructure were studied by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). For individual layers, lattice parameter is a$_{BTO}$=4.068 {\AA}, and a$_{LCMO}$=3.804 {\AA}, whereas in the bilayer, Bragg peaks for LCMO maintain its position but BTO peak shift to lower Bragg angle indicating a strained BTO film. Magnetization and polarization measurements indicate a possible multiferroic heterostructures