High-Throughput Screening of Ultraviolet–Visible Magnetooptical Properties of Spinel Ferrite (Zn,Co)Fe2O4 Solid Solution Epitaxial Film by a Composition-Spread Approach

Spinel ferrite Zn1-xCoxFe2O4 (0≤x≤1) (111) composition-spread thin film was epitaxially grown on an MgAl2O4(111) substrate by combinatorial pulsed laser deposition. Sequential deposition of the two end-compounds with monolayer-period led to the formation of solid solution with addressable composition. Point-by-point ultraviolet–visible magnetic circular dichroism and Faraday rotation angle spectra showed a significant variation with x, and the latter spectra combined with absorption spectra led to the rapid evaluation of magnetooptical performance factor as functions of x and photon energy. A significant enhancement of ultraviolet magnetooptical effect was observed by substituting a small amount of Zn (≤30 at. %) for Co in CoFe2O4.