Epitaxial growth and the magnetic properties of orthorhombic YTiO3 thin films

High-quality YTiO3 thin films were grown on LaAlO3 (110) substrates at low oxygen pressures (<= 10(-8) Torr) using pulsed laser deposition. The in-plane asymmetric atomic arrangements at the substrate surface allowed the authors to grow epitaxial YTiO3 thin films, which have an orthorhombic crystal structure with quite different a- and b-axis lattice constants. The YTiO3 film exhibited a clear ferromagnetic transition at 30 K with a saturation magnetization of about 0.7 mu(B)/Ti. The magnetic easy axis was found to be along the [1-10] direction of the substrate, which differs from the single crystal easy axis direction, i.e., [001]. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.