Depth-Resolved Profile of the Interfacial Ferromagnetism in CaMnO 3 /CaRuO 3 Superlattices.

Emergent magnetic phenomena at interfaces represent a frontier in materials science, pivotal for advancing technologies in spintronics and magnetic storage. In this Letter, we utilize a suite of advanced X-ray spectroscopic and scattering techniques to investigate emergent interfacial ferromagnetism in oxide superlattices composed of antiferromagnetic CaMnO ₃ and paramagnetic CaRuO ₃ . Our findings demonstrate that ferromagnetism exhibits an asymmetric profile and may extend beyond the interfacial layer into multiple unit cells of CaMnO ₃ . Complementary density functional calculations reveal that the interfacial ferromagnetism is driven by the double exchange mechanism, facilitated by charge transfer from Ru to Mn ions. Additionally, defect chemistry, particularly the presence of oxygen vacancies, can play a crucial role in modifying the magnetic moments at the interface, possibly leading to the observed asymmetry between the top and bottom CaMnO ₃ interfacial magnetic layers. Our findings underscore the potential of manipulating interfacial ferromagnetism through point defect engineering.