Novel Magnetic Properties Of Single-Crystalline Mn3o4 (004) Film Grown On Srtio3 (001) Substrate By Molecular Beam Epitaxy

A marked shrinking at low field in the M-H loop and two new magnetic phase transitions at 24 K and 12 K in the broken vertical bar dM/dT broken vertical bar -T curve are observed in high quality single-crystalline Mn3O4 (004) films grown on SrTiO3 (001) substrate. The reflection high energy electron diffraction patterns and X-ray diffraction suggest compressive strain in xy plane and tensile strain along the z axis in the film. It is proposed that the MnO6 octahedron distorts under the strain, affecting the spin states of the Mn3+ ions. The change of spin states of the Mn3+ ions under the strain in the film results in the novel magnetic properties, which provide a considerable candidate in application in electrochemical energy storage devices, sensors, and supercapacitors. (C) 2017 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.