Epitaxial growth and magnetic properties of EuO on (001)Si by molecular-beam epitaxy

Epitaxial (001) EuO thin films have been grown on (001) Si utilizing an intermediate, epitaxial SrO buffer layer by molecular-beam epitaxy. Four-circle x-ray diffraction reveals nearly phase-pure samples. Magnetic measurements indicate that the EuO layer is ferromagnetic, with a transition temperature (68 K) close to the bulk value and a saturation magnetic moment of 4.7 Bohr magnetons per Eu atom. The magneto-optic Kerr effect observed is also comparable to bulk EuO. Such heterostructures have potential as a means to inject spin-polarized electrons into silicon for use in spintronics applications. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.