Magnetic anisotropy of epitaxially (100)- and (111)-oriented Sr0.8Ho0.2CoO3−δ thin films on SrTiO3 substrates

•Epitaxially (100)- and (111)-oriented Sr0.8Ho0.2CoO3−δ thin films on SrTiO3 substrates.•Crystal structure of the thin films is discussed.•Growth mechanism of the thin films is determined by AFM image.•Growth orientation dependent magnetization and magnetic anisotropy.

We investigated magnetic properties of epitaxial Sr0.8Ho0.2CoO3−δ thin films grown on single crystal SrTiO3 substrates deposited by pulsed laser deposition method. On the single crystal (100) and (111) SrTiO3 substrates, the (100)- and (111)-oriented Sr0.8Ho0.2CoO3−δ thin films were obtained, respectively. The (100)- and (111)-oriented Sr0.8Ho0.2CoO3−δ thin films exhibited rough surface with grains and smooth surface with a step and terrace structure, respectively. This result suggests they grow in an island and layer-by-layer growth mode, respectively. The (111)-oriented Sr0.8Ho0.2CoO3−δ thin film exhibited ferromagnetic hysteresis with remnant magnetization of 0.15 μB/CoμB/Co. In contrast, superparamagnetic hysteresis was observed in the (100)-oriented Sr0.8Ho0.2CoO3−δ thin film.