Abstract:
Orthoferrites present, as bulk materials, reorientation transitions of their magnetic moment alignment at temperatures depending on the rare-earth (RE) ion. In particular, orthoferrites (REFeO3) with RE = Sm, Dy, present this transition at T SRT = 443 K and 36 K, respectively. The spectra of the complex Kerr and Faraday angle have been measured on orthoferrite thin films (RE = Sm, Dy, Y), which were prepared by pulsed laser deposition on amorphous quartz substrates. The obtained spectra exhibit contributions of both surfaces and interfaces. Propagation effects of the polarized light in the magneto-optical medium which is interpreted in terms of a simplified theoretical formalism, is also observed. For selected photon energies, temperature dependent Faraday rotation measurements, , on orthoferrite thin films (RE = Sm, Dy, Y) have been performed. A quite different thermal variation compared to the bulk magnetization has been observed. Curie temperatures are found to be close to the bulk values or slightly larger by 10 K to 20 K as in the case of DyFeO3 and YFeO3. For RE = Sm and Dy, increases with increasing temperature contrary to the saturation magnetization, passes through a maximum at about 460 K and vanishes with a T C of 647±18 K, 695 K for RE = Sm and Dy respectively.
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Received 28 July 2000
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Keller, N., Mistrík, J., Višňovský, Š. et al. Magneto-optical Faraday and Kerr effect of orthoferrite thin films at high temperatures. Eur. Phys. J. B 21, 67–73 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510170214
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510170214