High Curie temperature in B-site ordered Sr2CrWO6 epitaxial thin films

Epitaxial and c-axis oriented double perovskite Sr2CrWO6 thin films were prepared on SrTiO3 (100) and LaAlO3 (100) substrates by pulsed-laser deposition. Structural, magnetic and transport properties were found to be sensitive to the gas conditions employed during the deposition. A small amount of oxygen along with Ar during the deposition was found to be essential for B-site ordering; such films displayed lattice parameters close to the bulk value and display ferromagnetic metallic behavior. The Curie temperature observed above 500 K in these films is higher than bulk Sr2CrWO6 samples. Films grown without oxygen were observed to have long c-parameter and no B-site ordering; they were non-magnetic and semiconducting.