Room temperature ferrimagnetic thin films of the magnetoelectric Ga 2-xFexO3

Abstract

(0k0) oriented films of the magnetoelectric material Ga 2-xFexO3 (0.8 ≤ x ≤ 1.4) have been grown by pulsed laser deposition on various substrates: the non conducting yttrium stabilized zirconia (YSZ) (001) and the conducting indium tin oxide (ITO) buffered YSZ(001) and single crystalline Pt(111) buffered YSZ(111). The films are ferrimagnetic for all compositions and their Curie temperature increases with x. For x = 1.4, their Curie temperature is above room temperature (370 K) and their room temperature saturation magnetization is 90 emu/cm3. The effect of the conducting substrates on both the crystalline and electrical properties of the films has been studied. The single crystalline Pt(111) buffered YSZ(111) substrates allow substantial improvements both on the crystallographic and electrical points of view with a reduction of the number of in-plane variants down to 3 and a decrease of the leakage current down to 10-5 A at 10 V. This work opens new perspectives for the integration of a room temperature ferrimagnetic magnetoelectric material in spintronic devices. © 2009 The Royal Society of Chemistry.