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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus
MA 15: Magnetic Half-metals and Oxides I
MA 15.7: Talk
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 11:45–12:00, H22
Epitaxial growth of Fe3O4 thin films on ZnO substrates — •Andreas Müller1, Andreas Ruff1, Markus Paul1, Christian Praetorius2, Kai Fauth2, Uwe Bauer3, Marek Przybylski3, Michael Sing1, and Ralph Claessen1 — 1Experimentelle Physik IV, Universität Würzburg — 2Physikalisches Institut, Universität Würzburg — 3MPI für Mikrostrukturphysik, Halle
Magnetite (Fe3O4)/ zinc oxide (ZnO) heterostructures are currently explored due to their application potential in spintronics. Semi-metallic Fe3O4 is a ferrimagnet and was predicted to possess a fully spin-polarized Fermi surface, which makes it well suited for spin injection.
We have grown Fe3O4 thin films epitaxially on ZnO substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. The film quality was found to be strongly dependent on the oxygen partial pressure during growth. Structural, electronic, and magnetic properties were analyzed utilizing Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED), HArd X-ray PhotoElectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES), Magneto Optical Kerr Effect (MOKE), and X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism (XMCD). Film growth on ZnO was found to be in (111) direction. HAXPES gives clear evidence for the formation of Fe3O4. Non-destructive depth profiling using angle dependent HAXPES measurements showed uniform growth. However, the magnetic measurements revealed reduced magnetization for films grown on ZnO.