Evidence for ferromagnetism at the surface of a LaCo O3 single crystal is reported using a scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) microscope. Stray magnetic flux detected with the scanning SQUID shows typical ferromagnetic behavior in LaCo O3 below Tc ∼85 K, in agreement with previous work on LaCo O3 particles. Analysis of the magnetization of LaCo O3 particle samples clearly shows that the magnetization is inversely proportional to the particle radius, giving the information that the ferromagnetism is restricted within a few unit cell layers from the surface. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy also indicates that the ferromagnetism likely originates from the metallic surface due to hole doping with oxygen chemisorption
