LAUSR

Abstract We report on the elastic and magnetic properties of multiferroic Tb0.3Mn20.9O78.8 thin films. The films were deposited on (0 0 1) Si using radio frequency magnetron (RF) sputtering at 50 W and ambient temperature. The elastic properties have been established by surface Brillouin scattering (SBS) after fitting the discrete phonon dispersion in the k||d range of 0 – 5 by surface Elastodynamic Green’s function. The uncertainties in elastic constants values were obtained from Taylor series expansion of the phonon phase velocity as a function of C11 and C44 values and subsequently fitted by the least-squares method. The optimum primary elastic constants and their uncertainties were determined as C11 = 180 ± 4.9 GPa and C44 = 43.0 ± 0.89 GPa. The derived elastic constants show that the films are ductile. Using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), the films have been noted to behave like soft ferromagnetic materials at T ⩽ 150 K. Incommensurate magnetic ordering and spin-glass behaviors have also been observed.