Angle-resolved torque magnetometry of Er₂Ti₂O₇ thin films

Er₂Ti₂O₇ single crystals are candidates for "order by disorder" with an ordering temperature of 1.2 K to an XY antiferromagnet [1]. In this study, we aim to investigate how strain impacts XY antiferromagnetic ordering in Er₂Ti₂O₇ thin films. We report growth of Er₂Ti₂O₇ thin films on yttria-stabilized zirconia using pulsed laser deposition. We probe magnetic ordering of these thin films by measuring torque magnetometry at temperatures from 0.3 Kelvin to 20 Kelvin and fields up to 18 Tesla. The angle-resolved torque has a rich interplay between easy and hard axes at high symmetry crystallographic directions [111], [110], and [001]. We interpret our torque results in comparison to the symmetries and ordering reported for Er₂Ti₂O₇ single crystals.

[1] Champion, J. D. M., Harris, M. J., Holdsworth, P. C. W. et al., Er₂Ti₂O₇: Evidence of quantum order by disorder in a frustrated antiferromagnet, Phys. Rev. B 68, 020401(R) (2003).