Fe Spin Reorientation across the Metamagnetic Transition in Strained FeRh Thin Films

A spin reorientation accompanying the temperature-induced antiferromagnetic (AFM) to ferromagnetic (FM) phase transition is reported in strained epitaxial FeRh thin films. Fe-57 conversion electron Mossbauer spectrometry showed that the Fe moments have different orientations in FeRh grown on thick single-crystalline MgO and in FeRh grown on ion-beam-assist-deposited (IBAD) MgO. It was also observed, in both samples, that the Fe moments switch orientations at the AFM to FM phase transition. Perpendicular anisotropy was evidenced in the AFM phase of the film grown on IBAD MgO and in the FM phase of that grown on regular MgO. Density-functional theory calculations enabled this spin-reorientation transition to be accurately reproduced for both FeRh films across the AFM-FM phase transition and show that these results are due to differences in strain.