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Register a new userAnisotropic spin-density distribution and magnetic anisotropy of strained La$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$MnO$_3$ thin films: Angle-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism
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Magnetic anisotropies of ferromagnetic thin films are induced by epitaxial strain from the substrate via strain-induced anisotropy in the orbital magnetic moment and that in the spatial distribution of spin-polarized electrons. However, the preferential orbital occupation in ferromagnetic metallic La$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$MnO$_3$ (LSMO) thin films studied by x-ray linear dichroism (XLD) has always been found out-of-plane for both tensile and compressive epitaxial strain and hence irrespective of the magnetic anisotropy. In order to resolve this mystery, we directly probed the preferential orbital occupation of spin-polarized electrons in LSMO thin films under strain by angle-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). Anisotropy of the spin-density distribution was found to be in-plane for the tensile strain and out-of-plane for the compressive strain, consistent with the observed magnetic anisotropy. The ubiquitous out-of-plane preferential orbital occupation seen by XLD is attributed to the occupation of both spin-up and spin-down out-of-plane orbitals in the surface magnetic dead layer.
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Magnetic anisotropy of epitaxially grown thin films is affected by the strain from the substrates due to a combined effect of distorted electronic structure and spin-orbit interaction (SOI). As an inverse process, one expects an anisotropy of the electronic structure induced by magnetization in the presence of SOI. We have studied the charge-density anisotropy induced by magnetization in thin films of the ferromagnetic metal La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$MnO$_3$ via x-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD). XMLD measurements on thin films with various thicknesses have shown that the XMLD intensity is proportional to the square of the ferromagnetic moment. Using the XMLD sum rule and cluster-model calculation, it has been shown that more Mn 3$d$ electrons are distributed in orbitals elongated along the direction parallel to the spin polarization than in orbitals elongated in the direction perpendicular to it. The cluster-model calculation has shown that the effect of tensile strain from the SrTiO$_3$ substrate on the XMLD spectra is also consistent with the observed XMLD spectral line shapes.
Spinel-type CoFe$_2$O$_4$ is a ferrimagnetic insulator with the Neel temperature exceeding 790 K, and shows a strong cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) in bulk materials. However, when a CoFe$_2$O$_4$ film is grown on other materials, its magnetic properties are degraded so that so-called magnetically dead layers are expected to be formed in the interfacial region. We investigate how the magnetic anisotropy of CoFe$_2$O$_4$ is modified at the interface of CoFe$_2$O$_4$/Al$_2$O$_3$ bilayers grown on Si(111) using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). We find that the thinner CoFe$_2$O$_4$ films have significantly smaller MCA values than bulk materials. The reduction of MCA is explained by the reduced number of Co$^{2+}$ ions at the $O_h$ site reported by a previous study [Y. K. Wakabayashi $textit{et al.}$, Phys. Rev. B $textbf{96}$, 104410 (2017)].
Perovskite-type manganites, which are well-known for their intriguing physical properties such as colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) and half metalicity, have been considered as candidate materials for spintronics. However, their ferromagnetic (FM) properties are often suppressed in thin films when the thickness is reduced down to several monolayers (MLs). In order to investigate how the magnetic phases evolve near the paramagnetic (PM)-to-FM phase transition boundary, we have performed temperature-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) experiments on a La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$MnO$_3$ (LSMO, $x=0.4$) thin film, whose thickness (8 ML) is close to the boundary between the FM-metallic and the PM-insulating phases. By utilizing the element-selectiveness of XMCD, we have quantitatively estimated the fractions of the PM and superparamagnetic (SPM) phases as well as the FM one as a function of temperature. The results can be reasonably described based on a microscopic phase-separation model.
We have performed x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and valence-band photoemission studies of the diluted ferromagnetic semiconductor Zn$_{1-x}$Cr$_x$Te. XMCD signals due to ferromagnetism were observed at the Cr 2p absorption edge. Comparison with atomic multiplet calculations suggests that the magnetically active component of the Cr ion was divalent under the tetrahedral crystal field with tetragonal distortion along the crystalline a-, b-, and c-axes. In the valence-band spectra, spectral weight near the Fermi level was strongly suppressed, suggesting the importance of Jahn-Teller effect and the strong Coulomb interaction between the Cr 3d electrons.
Surface magnetic properties of perovskite manganites have been a recurrent topic during last years since they play a major role in the implementation of magnetoelectronic devices. Magneto-optical techniques, such as X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, turn out to be a very efficient tool to study surface magnetism due to their sensitivity to magnetic and chemical variations across the sample depth. Nevertheless, the application of the sum rules for the determination of the spin magnetic moment might lead to uncertainties as large as 40% in case of Mn ions. To overcome this problem we present an alternative approach consisting of using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism in reflection geometry. Fit of the data by using a computer code based in a 4X4 matrix formalism leads to realistic results. In particular, we show that surface and interface roughness are of major relevance for a proper description of the experimental data and a correct interpretation of the results. By using such an approach we demonstrate the presence of a narrow surface region with strongly depressed magnetic properties in La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 thin films.
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