Effect of tensile and compressive strain on the magnetic ordering of the ($$\hbox {LaMnO}_{3})_{1}/\hbox {(SrTiO}_{3})_{1}$$ superlattice

We study the effects of tensile and compressive strain on the \((\hbox {LaMnO}_{3})_{1}/(\hbox {SrTiO}_{3})_{1}\) superlattice from density functional theory using Quantum-Espresso open source code. In the unstrained superlattice, electron interactions in out-of-plane Mn–O–Ti chains are dominated by superexchange interactions, giving rise to ferromagnetic and half-metallic conducting characters. We found that the most stable magnetic configuration is G-type antiferromagnetic configuration for strong compressive strain and for strong tensile strain it is A-type antiferromagnetic configuration. The results are in accordance with the experimental observations which show that the superlattices can be grown on different substrates, and due to the difference in lattice parameters of the substrate and the main layer, there are also changes in the amount of strain applied to the superlattice.