Magnetic Anisotropy in Thin Layers of (Mn,Zn)Fe₂O₄ on SrTiO₃ (001)

Abstract

Herein, a ferrimagnetic manganese zinc ferrite (Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4) film with a thickness of 200 nm is prepared without a buffer layer on strontium titanate (001) (SrTiO3) using pulsed laser deposition. Its magnetic properties are investigated using superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), X‐ray absorption spectroscopy with subsequent X‐ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and magneto‐optic Kerr effect (MOKE). Hysteresis loops derived from SQUID exhibits bulk‐like properties. This can further be confirmed by bulk‐like XMCD spectra. In remanent magnetization, an in‐plane magnetization with basically no out‐of‐plane component is found. The magnetic moments derived by the sum rule formalism from the XMCD data are in good agreement to the magnetization observed by SQUID and MOKE. XMCD as well as MOKE reveal an in‐plane angular fourfold magnetic anisotropy with the easy direction along [110] for (Mn0.5Zn0.5)Fe2O4 on SrTiO3. The element‐specific magnetic moments from XMCD show a stronger contribution of Fe to the anisotropy than of Mn and distinct contributions of the orbital moments.