Magnetoresistance of epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films on a flexible CoFe2O4-buffered mica substrate

We have investigated the magnetoresistance of epitaxial SrRuO₃ (SRO) thin films on a flexible CoFe₂O₄ (CFO)-buffered mica substrate. High-resolution X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the SRO film could be epitaxially grown on a mica substrate with a 22-nm-thick CFO buffer layer. The epitaxial relationships were SRO [1–10] || CFO [1–10] || mica [010] and SRO [111] || CFO [111] || mica [001]. Epitaxial SRO thin films exhibited two magnetoresistance (MR) peaks; one peak occurred at a Curie temperature of 160 K (HT-MR) and the other at a low temperature of 40 K (LT-MR). The LT-MR increased more rapidly with an increase of the buffer layer thickness than the HT-MR. The LT-MR was similar for the two orthogonal current directions with respect to the magnetic field. We explained the HT-MR and LT-MR in terms of the suppression of spin fluctuations and the magnetic rotation of crystallographic domains, respectively.