Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Stoichiometric and Off-stoichiometric SrMnO3 Thin Films

Two thin films of SrMnO3 (SMO) were grown on LAO (LaAlO3) (110) substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique with different oxygen stoichiometry. From low-temperature magnetization measurements, it is observed that both films show a clear ferromagnetic kind of behavior. Electronic structure of both films has been investigated by using soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and photoemission spectroscopy (PES). It is revealed that the Mn-O hybridization is hugely modified due to oxygen stoichiometry, with its consequences on their magnetic properties.