Mechanically tunable thickness-dependent magnetic properties of flexible SrRuO[formula omitted] thin films

Abstract

A series of SrRuO3 (SRO) single crystalline thin films were grown epitaxially on the flexible substrate of fluorophlogopite by using pulsed laser deposition technology with a BaTiO3 (BTO) buffer layer. The temperature and magnetic field dependences on magnetization were measured as the external field which is parallel and perpendicular to the film surface. The results indicate that the magnetic properties of SRO thin films, including Curie temperature TC, saturation magnetization MS, and coercivity HC, are strongly dependent on the film thickness and the bending state. MS increases from 280.63 to 422.39 emu/cm3 as the film thickness increases from 50 to 200 nm while HC decreases from 1.35 to 0.72 T. TC is slightly increased from 155.41 to ∼160 K as the SRO thin films are subjected to convex or concave bending states. The regulation of mechanical bending and the variation of the film thickness exert significant influences on the magnetic properties of the SRO thin films and their potential application in flexible devices.