1 research outputs found
Thermodynamic conditions during growth determine the magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial thin-films of LaSrMnO
The suitability of a particular material for use in magnetic devices is
determined by the process of magnetization reversal/relaxation, which in turn
depends on the magnetic anisotropy. Therefore, designing new ways to control
magnetic anisotropy in technologically important materials is highly desirable.
Here we show that magnetic anisotropy of epitaxial thin-films of half-metallic
ferromagnet LaSrMnO (LSMO) is determined by the proximity
to thermodynamic equilibrium conditions during growth. We performed a series of
X-ray diffraction and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) experiments in two
different sets of samples: the first corresponds to LSMO thin-films deposited
under tensile strain on (001) SrTiO by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD; far
from thermodynamic equilibrium); the second were deposited by a slow Chemical
Solution Deposition (CSD) method, under quasi-equilibrium conditions. Thin
films prepared by PLD show a in-plane cubic anisotropy with an overimposed
uniaxial term. A large anisotropy constant perpendicular to the film plane was
also observed in these films. However, the uniaxial anisotropy is completely
suppressed in the CSD films. The out of plane anisotropy is also reduced,
resulting in a much stronger in plane cubic anisotropy in the chemically
synthesized films. This change is due to a different rotation pattern of
MnO octahedra to accomodate epitaxial strain, which depends not only on
the amount of tensile stress imposed by the STO substrate, but also on the
growth conditions. Our results demonstrate that the nature and magnitude of the
magnetic anisotropy in LSMO can be tuned by the thermodynamic parameters during
thin-film deposition.Comment: 6 pages, 8 Figure