Growth and physical properties of epitaxial GdN and SmN

The epitaxial growth and passivation of GdN and SmN by pulsed laser deposition on [100] YSZ substrates has been refined. We report on the growth kinetics, including the relaxation of the films, and the incorporation of oxygen at the substrate-film interface. Magnetic susceptibility measurements confirm a Tc of 70K and small coercive field for GdN. Resistivity measurements show an anomalous peak at Tc, while magnetic transport measurements indicate the films are electron doped to degeneracy, and show a strong anomalous Hall contribution below Tc.