Magneto-optical properties of Sr-ferrite films produced by pulsed laser ablation

The effect of substrate temperature and oxygen pressure on the microstructure and magneto-optical (m-o) properties of Sr-ferrite films grown on [001] single crystal sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition has been investigated. The results demonstrated that smooth c-axis oriented films, could only be prepared at a narrow operational window of the useful oxygen pressure and at high substrate temperatures. The best films were deposited at a substrate temperature of 840/spl deg/C, and in an oxygen atmosphere of about 0.1 mbar. These were of good optical quality, hard to scratch, with c-axis oriented perpendicular to the film plane and exhibited bulk m-o properties.