Influence of oxygen partial pressure on the epitaxial MgFe2O4 thin films deposited on SrTiO3 (100) substrate

Abstract

Epitaxial MgFe2O4 (MFO) thin films have been deposited on SrTiO3 (STO) (1 0 0) substrates via a pulsed laser deposition technique under different oxygen partial pressures at 650 degrees C. The various oxygen partial pressures showed significant influence on the sticking coefficient and the spatial distribution of target materials. The lattice constant of the MFO thin films was decreased with increasing an oxygen partial pressure. The thin films synthesized at high oxygen partial pressure showed rough surface morphology. Also, epitaxial MFO thin films showed anisotropic magnetic behavior and the film grown at the oxygen pressure of 40 mTorr exhibited the highest saturation magnetization of 194 emu/cc. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.