Title: Effect of annealing on the magnetic properties of zinc ferrite thin films,
Abstract: We report on the magnetic properties of zinc ferrite thin film deposited on
SrTiO$_3$ single crystal using pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction
result indicates the highly oriented single phase growth of the film along with
the presence of the strain. In comparison to the bulk antiferromagnetic order,
the as-deposited film has been found to exhibit ferrimagnetic ordering with a
coercive field of 1140~Oe at 5~K. A broad maximum, at $\approx$105~K, observed
in zero-field cooled magnetization curve indicates the wide grain size
distribution for the as-deposited film. Reduction in magnetization and blocking
temperature has been observed after annealing in both argon as well as oxygen
atmospheres, where the variation was found to be dependent on the annealing
temperature.