Magnetotransport, noise, and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism studies of pulsed laser deposited Fe3O4 film on Si substrates

Abstract

Electrical fluctuation, magnetic, and magneto-transport properties of the (111) oriented Fe3O4 thin film deposited by pulsed laser deposition on technologically important silicon substrate have been studied. Low frequency conduction noise follows the trend of resistivity behavior with respect to temperature and the normalized value of noise drops by two orders of magnitude below the Verwey transition. At room temperature, magnetoresistance of the film is 5% at 8 T. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements performed on 10 nm thick film of Fe3O4 indicate a single crystal-like uniform distribution of Fe ions in its crystal or magnetic structure. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.