X-ray magnetic circular dichroism study of epitaxial magnetite ultrathin film on MgO(100)

Journal Article · Thu May 07 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4916296· OSTI ID:22410136

Liu, W. Q.; Song, M. Y.; Lin, J. G. ^[1]; Maltby, N. J.; Li, S. P. ^[2]; Samant, M. G.; Parkin, S. S. P. ^[3]; Bencok, P.; Steadman, Paul; Dobrynin, Alexey ^[4]

---

1. Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan (China)
2. Spintronics and Nanodevice Laboratory, Department of Electronics, University of York, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom)
3. IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California 95120 (United States)
4. Diamond Light Source, Didcot OX11 0DE (United Kingdom)

The spin and orbital magnetic moments of the Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} epitaxial ultrathin film synthesized by plasma assisted simultaneous oxidization on MgO(100) have been studied with X-ray magnetic circular dichroism. The ultrathin film retains a rather large total magnetic moment, i.e., (2.73 ± 0.15) μ{sub B}/f.u., which is ∼70% of that for the bulk-like Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}. A significant unquenched orbital moment up to 0.54 ± 0.05 μ{sub B}/f.u. was observed, which could come from the symmetry breaking at the Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}/MgO interface. Such sizable orbital moment will add capacities to the Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}-based spintronics devices in the magnetization reversal by the electric field.

• OSTI ID: 22410136
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 17; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
ELECTRIC FIELDS
EPITAXY
FERRITES
INTERFACES
IRON OXIDES
MAGNESIUM OXIDES
MAGNETIC CIRCULAR DICHROISM
MAGNETIC MOMENTS
MAGNETITE
MAGNETIZATION
SPIN
SYMMETRY BREAKING
THIN FILMS
X RADIATION