Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in CoFe2O4(001) films epitaxially grown on MgO(001)

Abstract

We report on the magnetic properties of epitaxial cobalt-ferrite films with orientations parallel to [001] and [111] grown by a reactive molecular beam epitaxy method using pure ozone gas as an oxidation agent. Both Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetization measurement of the CoFe2O4(001) film grown on MgO(001) indicate that the film has perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) with high coercivity, whereas the film of CoFe2O4(111) grown on α-Al2O3(0001) appears to be paramagnetic. The maximum uniaxial anisotropy energy for CoFe2O4(001) estimated from the magnetization and coercivity at room temperature is ≈3×106 erg/cm3.