The preparation and antiferromagnetic properties of epitaxial rocksalt-type CoN films

We have grown epitaxial rocksalt-type CoN films on SrTiO3 and sapphire substrates by ablating a cobalt target in activated nitrogen atmosphere. The structural and magnetic properties have been investigated. X-ray diffraction profiles show CoN films grow along the [1 0 0] and [1 1 1] direction on SrTiO3(1 0 0) and α-Al2O3(0 0 0 1), respectively. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurement has been performed on CoN/SrTiO3 system, which shows a good epitaxial growth. Temperature-dependent magnetization curves reveal that the as-grown films have antiferromagnetic properties with TN of ∼310 K.