Domain structure and magnetic properties of epitaxial SrRuO3 films grown on SrTiO3 (100) substrates by ion beam sputtering

Abstract

The domain structure of epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films grown on SrTiO3 (100) substrates by using ion beam sputtering has been investigated with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Xray diffraction (XRD). The SrRuO3 films grown in the present study revealed a unique cube-on-cube epitaxial relationship, i.e., (100)(SRO)\\(100)(STO), [010](SRO)\\[010](STO), prevailing with a cubic single-domain structure. The cubic SrRuO3 thin films that were inherently with free from RuO6 octahedron tilting exhibited higher resistivity with suppressed magnetic properties. The Curie temperature of the thin films was suppressed by 60 K from 160 K for the bulk specimen, and the saturation magnetic moment was reduced by a significant amount. The tetragonal distortion of the SrRuO3 thin films due to coherent growth with the substrate seemed to result in a strong magnetic anisotropy.