Magnetic structure in epitaxially strainedSr2CrReO6thin films by element-specific XAS and XMCD

Strain-tunable extraordinary magnetocrystalline anisotropy inSr2CrReO6epitaxial films

“…4(c)], Cr and Re contribute at approximately the same magnitude, but with opposite sign, thus canceling each other and leaving the small contribution from the hybridizing O atoms as the dominant spin component. We have previously observed experimentally an x-ray magnetic circular dichroism signal at the O K edge (work performed at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory), complementing our theoretical findings that the O site carries a substantial magnetic moment [38]. The overall dominant orbital moment anisotropy, however, is nearly exclusively imposed by the Re atoms, which contribute 93% to the combined ∆m L [Fig.…”

Depth-resolved magnetic and structural analysis of relaxing epitaxialSr2CrReO6

“…Near the surface of the film, the SCRO structure is expected to be fully relaxed with a structure similar to that of epitaxial SCRO/STO, like in reference [2]. Thus, near the surface the easy magnetic axis should be in the plane of the film.…”

“…In our previous work, we used XMCD to quantify the spin and orbital moment contributions of the Cr and Re sites in SCRO films for three instances of epitaxial strain: (approximately) 0.8% compressive strain imposed by an LSAT substrate, 0.15% tensile/nominally relaxed strain imposed by a SrTiO 3 (STO) substrate, and 1.1% tensile strain imposed by an SCNO buffer layer on LSAT [2]. Previous experiments also demonstrated the strain-tunable and strong MCA in SCRO films, which is driven primarily by the Re sites.…”

“…MCA is a product of spinorbit coupling, wherein the electronic spin moments couple to the orbital moments, and thus the lattice. Even small epitaxial strains (less than 1%) can have drastic effects on magnetic properties in materials exhibiting large MCA [2][3][4][5][6].…”

“…These materials, such as Sr 2 CrReO 6 (the focus of this study), are strongly correlated electronic systems that provide opportunities for interesting experimental and theoretical studies [9][10][11]. We have previously explored the spin and orbital magnetic moment contributions by Cr, Re, and O in Sr 2 CrReO 6 (SCRO) films using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism [2,12,13]. We have also demonstrated extraordinarily large MCA in SCRO films, which is tunable via epitaxial strain [3].…”