Dependence of magnetic anisotropy of the La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 films on substrate and film thickness

Strain in the La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 films has been tuned by varying substrate and film thickness, and its effects on magnetic anisotropy are studied based on the measurements of isothermal magnetization. Measuring the strain in the films by the out-of-plane lattice parameter (c), we found a strong dependence of the magnetic anisotropy constant (Ku) on strain. Ku decreases linearly from ∼−1.1×106 erg/cm3 for c=0.763 nm to 1.2×106 erg/cm3 for c=0.776 nm, corresponding to a change from tensile strain to compressive strain. Positive Ku signifies a uniaxial anisotropy with the easy axis perpendicular to the film plane, while negative Ku demonstrates an anisotropy of the easy plane character. Smaller or larger c leads a decrease or increase in Ku, which indicates the presence of other effects in addition to those associated with strain. Three distinctive processes for the magnetization are observed along the hard magnetic axis of the films on (001)SrTiO3, suggesting a possibility of strain relaxation even in ultra-thin films.