Epitaxial growth of γ-CoV2O6 thin films: Structure, morphology, and magnetic properties

We report on the epitaxial growth of 100 nm thick triclinic γ-CoV2O6 thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition on TiO2(100) substrate. The layers were grown in narrow experimental conditions, at 600 °C and 0.1 millibar oxygen pressure. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy evidenced the presence of two variants and the following epitaxial relation between the layers and the substrate: [001]TiO2(100)∥[0±10]γ-CoV2O6(100). Besides the magnetization steps expected in γ-CoV2O6, low temperature magnetic measurements performed along different crystalline axes show the existence of a strong anisotropy compatible with that expected from a one dimensional system, with the easy magnetization axis lying along the b direction (i.e., the Co chains).