Rotation of the magnetic easy axis in La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 thin film on NdGaO3(112)

Abstract

The in-plane magnetic anisotropy is studied for pseudocubic {011}pc oriented La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) thin film grown on orthorhombic NdGaO3(NGO)(112)o (the subindices “pc” and “o” indicate the pseudocubic and orthorhombic lattice structure, respectively). The direction of the in-plane remanent magnetization of LSMO thin films with different thicknesses is determined. With increasing film thickness the easy axes rotate and the anisotropy changes from uniaxial to biaxial. This is associated with the increasing symmetry of the LSMO with increasing thickness, starting with a monoclinic LSMO structure at the nonrectangular NGO(112)o surface unit cell of the substrate, developing into an orthorhombic structure at the top part of the thickest films.