Response to Comment on "Epitaxial BiFeO 3 Multiferroic Thin Film Heterostructures"

Abstract
In Wang et al. (2), we reported on the ferroelectric and magnetic properties of BiFeO3 (BFO) epitaxial thin films. Our results demonstrated a thickness dependence in these properties, and we suggested that a likely explanation of these effects was that heteroepitaxial strain induced a monoclinic distortion, relaxing gradually with increasing thickness. Detailed x-ray studies (3) have shown evidence for such a monoclinic structure, as well as no evidence for secondary phases. The out-of-plane lattice parameter for the BFO layer progressively increases as the thickness is decreased, consistent with the expected effect of epitaxial constraint.
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