Back Cover: Novel multifunctional materials based on oxide thin films and artificial heteroepitaxial multilayers (Phys. Status Solidi A 2/2011)

The combination of magnetic properties with dielectric, semiconducting, or ferroelectric materials in one and the same material [e.g. magnetic semiconductors (MS) or intrinsic multiferroics] – as well as in artificial heterostructures [e.g. ferromagnetic/dielectric heterostructures for magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) or artificial multiferroic heterostructures] allows for the design of materials with novel functionalities and provides the basis for various device applications. In their Feature Article on pp. 232–251, Opel et al. report on the combination of ferromagnetic, semiconducting, metallic, and dielectric materials properties in thin films and artificial heterostructures using laser molecular beam epitaxy. They discuss the fabrication and characterization of oxide-based ferromagnetic tunnel junctions, transition metal-doped semiconductors, intrinsic multiferroics, and artificial ferroelectric/ferromagetic heterostructures.