Effect of annealing on the magnetic properties of zinc ferrite thin films

We report on the magnetic properties of zinc ferrite thin film deposited on SrTiO3 single crystal using pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction result indicates the highly oriented single phase growth of the film along with the presence of strain. In comparison to the bulk antiferromagnetic order, the as-deposited film has been found to exhibit ferrimagnetic ordering with a coercive field of 1140 Oe at 5 K. A broad maximum, at ≈105 K, observed in zero-field cooled magnetization curve indicates the wide grain size distribution for the as-deposited film. Reduction in magnetization and blocking temperature has been observed after annealing in both argon as well as oxygen atmospheres, where the variation was found to be dependent on the annealing temperature.