We examine the magnetic easy-axis directions of stoichiometric magnetite films grown on SrTiO 3 :Nb by infrared pulsed-laser deposition. Spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy reveals that the individual magnetic domains are magnetized along the in-plane h100i film directions. Magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements show that the maxima of the remanence and coercivity are also along in-plane h100i film directions. This easy-axis orientation differs from bulk magnetite and films prepared by other techniques, establishing that the magnetic anisotropy can be tuned by film growth. 2 It is a highly correlated electron material that presents a prototypical metal-insulator transition close to 120 K (the Verwey transition 3,4 ). At low temperature it becomes ferroelectric, and thus, multiferroic. 5,6 A bad metal at room temperature (RT), but predicted to be a half-metal with only the minority-spin band crossing the Fermi level, 7 it has been considered a promising material for spintronic applications as an spin-injector 8,9 or as part of a spin-valve.10,11 For such purposes, it is often desired to obtain highly perfect magnetite films on different oxide substrates. In particular, SrTiO 3 is a very attractive material in the microelectronics industry and can be doped to provide either an insulating or metallic substrate. In consequence, there is interest in the magnetic and transport properties of magnetite films grown on SrTiO 3 , both Nb-doped 12-16 and undoped, 17-23 by using techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy or pulsed-laser deposition (PLD).The magnetization bulk easy-axis directions of Fe 3 O 4 at RT are the cubic h111i ones. The first order anisotropy constant changes sign upon cooling to 130 K, temperature below which the easy axis are the h100i directions, [24][25][26] down to Verwey transition at $120 K where the structure changes from cubic to monoclinic. Thus, in the (001) surface of bulk samples, the magnetization is expected to lie along the projection of the bulk h111i on the (001) surface, i.e., the in-plane h110i directions, 27 an expectation confirmed by spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy observations (SPLEEM). 28 Most magnetic studies of thin films on SrTiO 3 are performed by techniques such as magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE), and SQUID or vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM), all of which average over the full thickness of the magnetite film. 16,17,19,20,23 In most cases, h110i in-plane directions are reported for the easy-axis, 17,29,30 although some works indicate in-plane isotropic films. 20 There are several reports of real-space imaging of the surface domains by magnetic-force microscopy (MFM), 16,19,23 showing domains of about 60-100 nm in size, similar to the observed grain size, but they do not identify the local domain magnetization direction. On other (100) substrates, h110i easy-axis directions are also usually reported. 31,32 Although attempts have been made to modify the easy axis orientation by the use of piezoelectric substrates 29 or through growth on ste...