title: Effect of interface on epitaxy and magnetism in h-RFeO3/Fe3O4/Al2O3films (R  =  Lu, Yb).
abstract: We have carried out the growth of h-RFeO3(0 0 1) (R  =  Lu, Yb) thin films on Fe3O4(1 1 1)/Al2O3(0 0 1) substrates, and studied the effect of the h-RFeO3(0 0 1)/Fe3O4(1 1 1) interfaces on the epitaxy and magnetism. The observed epitaxial relations between h-RFeO3and Fe3O4indicate an unusual matching of Fe sub-lattices rather than a matching of O sub-lattices. The out-of-plane direction was found to be the easy magnetic axis for h-YbFeO3(0 0 1) but the hard axis for Fe3O4(1 1 1) in the h-YbFeO3(0 0 1)/Fe3O4(1 1 1)/Al2O3(0 0 1) films, suggesting a perpendicular magnetic alignment at the h-YbFeO3(0 0 1)/Fe3O4(1 1 1) interface. These results indicate that Fe3O4(1 1 1)/Al2O3(0 0 1) could be a promising substrate for epitaxial growth of h-RFeO3films of well-defined interface and for exploiting their spintronic properties.
authors.affiliation: School of Science, MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, People's Republic of China. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, United States of America.
authors.forename: Xiaozhe
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yuewei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Sen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zhimao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiaoshan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu