Detection of Anisotropy in LaFeO3/SrTiO3 Thin Films through use of Spin Hall Magnetoresistance

The field of antiferromagnetic spintronics has gained popularity over the last decade, and many techniques have been developed to understand the behavior of the Néel vector in these materials. In this work we use spin-hall magnetoresistance measurments in order to probe the magnetism in a set of antiferromagnetic films. LaFeO₃ is a g-type antiferromagnet with slight canting leading to a small net moment. LaFeO₃ thin films of high crystalline quality were grown on SrTiO₃(100) substrates by off-axis magnetron sputtering. Angular spin-hall magnetoresistance (SMR) measurements were carried out on ultrathin LaFeO3/Pt bilayers. The behavior of these films was then compared to that of bulk like films in order to understand the effect of the SrTiO₃ interface. From the SMR we are able to better understand the anisotropy as well as potential switching behavior of these films.