Strong in-plane magnetic anisotropy in (111)-oriented CoFe2O4 thin film

The perfect (111)-oriented CoFe2O4 thin films were grown on Pt(111)/Si substrate by pulsed laser deposition technique at substrate temperature of 600 °C. The optimum oxygen pressure was found to be 10 mTorr based on structural and magnetic properties. The film grown at 10 mTorr has the highest (111)-orientation degree and magnetization. The films are under in-plane tensile stress due to the residual thermal strain which is thickness-dependent. It was found that the (111)-oriented CoFe2O4 thin film demonstrates the strong in-plane magnetic anisotropy which results from orientation as well as the stress-induced magnetic anisotropy.