Depth-resolved magnetic and structural analysis of relaxing epitaxial Sr2CrReO6

J. M. Lucy, A. J. Hauser, Y. Liu, H. Zhou, Y. Choi, D. Haskel, S. G.E. Te Velthuis, F. Y. Yang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Structural relaxation in a Sr2CrReO6 epitaxial film, which exhibits strong spin-orbit coupling, leads to depth-dependent magnetism. We combine two depth-resolved synchrotron x-ray techniques - two-dimensional reciprocal space mapping and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism - to quantitatively determine this effect. An 800-nm-thick film of Sr2CrReO6, grown with tensile epitaxial strain on SrCr0.5Nb0.5O3(225nm)/(LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.7, relaxes away from the Sr2CrReO6/SrCr0.5Nb0.5O3 interface to its bulk lattice parameters, with much of the film being fully relaxed. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction of the film elucidates the in-plane strain relaxation near the film-substrate interface, while depth-resolved x-ray magnetic circular dichroism at the Re L edge reveals the magnetic contributions of the Re site. The smooth relaxation of the film near the interface correlates with changes in the magnetic anisotropy. This provides a systematic and powerful way to probe the depth-varying structural and magnetic properties of a complex oxide with synchrotron-source x-ray techniques.

Original languageEnglish
Article number094413
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume91
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 16 2015
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
U.S. Department of Energy

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