Characterization of Rare-Earth Titanate Pyrochlore Thin Films Synthesized by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

<br/><br/>Pyrochlores are a class of metal oxide materials with the empirical formula A₂B₂O₆O’. Both the A³⁺ and B⁴⁺ sites are filled with select metal, metalloid, or lanthanide cations; the oxygen atoms coordinate roughly as a scalenohedron around the A site and as an octahedron around the B site¹. These specific oxidations and coordinations create the environment for the non-symmetric distribution of electrons in the lattice. This non-symmetric distribution is partially responsible for the ‘spin-ice’ behaviors of some pyrochlores². These metal cations also exhibit other unique magnetic properties including long-range ordered, spin-glass, and spin-liquid phases³. Here we synthesize thin films of pyrochlores using reactive-oxide molecular beam epitaxy. We study the structural and magnetic properties of rare-earth titanate pyrochlores thin films with a focus on oxidation and oxygen vacancies in these materials. Atomic-force microscopy (AFM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) are used to verify the quality and identity of our grown films. We used SQUID magnetometry to characterize magnetic properties.<br/><br/>1 - Journal of Applied Physics 51, 290 (1980); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.327368<br/>2 - Nature Materials, 13(5), 488–493. https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT3924<br/>3 - Reviews of Modern Physics, 82(1), 53–107. https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.82.53