Synthesis, structure and magnetic properties of crystallographically aligned CuCr2Se4 thin films

• Crystallographically aligned, phase pure CuCr2Se4 were synthesized.
• The degree of alignment decreases with annealing time.
• The films are ferromagnetic with the easy axis along the <111> direction.
• The magnetization is larger than bulk CuCr2Se4 or other CuCr2Se4 films made to date.

We report the low temperature synthesis of highly textured CuCr2Se4 thin films using the modulated elemental reactant (MER) method. The structure of CuCr2Se4 is determined for the first time in its thin film form and exhibits cell parameters that are smaller than found in bulk CuCr2Se4. X-ray diffraction and precession electron diffraction show a strong degree of crystallographic alignment of the crystallites, where the <111> axis is oriented perpendicular to the substrate surface, while being rotationally disordered within the plane. Temperature and field dependent in-plane and out-of-plane magnetization measurements show that the film is ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature of 406 K CuCr2Se4 synthesized utilizing the MER method shows stronger magnetic anisotropy (effective anisotropy: 1.82 × 106 erg cm−3; shape anisotropy: 1.07 × 106 erg cm−3), with the easy axis lying out of plane, and a larger magnetic moment (6 μB/f.u.) than bulk CuCr2Se4.