Magnetic and dielectric properties of YbMnO3 perovskite thin films

Metastable manganite perovskites displaying the antiferromagnetic so-called E phase are predicted to be multiferroic. Due to the need of high pressures for the synthesis of this phase, this prediction has only been confirmed in bulk HoMnO3. Here we report on the growth and characterization of YbMnO3 perovskite thin films grown under epitaxial strain. Highly oriented thin films, with thickness down to 30 nm, can be obtained showing magnetodielectric coupling and magnetic responses as those expected for the E phase. We observe that the magnetic properties depart from the bulk behavior only in the case of ultrathin films (d < 30 nm), which display a glassy magnetic behavior. We show that strain effects alone cannot account for this difference and that the film morphology plays, instead, a crucial role.