Investigation of high quality magnetite thin films grown on SrTiO3(001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition

A systematic study of Fe3O4 epitaxial films grown on single-crystalline SrTiO3(100) substrates using pulsed laser deposition has been conducted in order to elaborate magnetite films with properties suitable for their integration into spintronics heterostructures. Structural, morphologic, magnetic and transport properties of the films as a function of the deposition conditions were extensively explored in situ and ex situ. The conditions for the growth of high quality magnetite thin films were determined. The critical temperatures and magnetization close to the bulk values, low roughness and high conductivity make these samples perfectly suitable for future use in the spintronics heterostructures. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.