Fabrication and magnetic characterization of nanometer-sized ellipses of the ferromagnetic insulator EuS

The magnetic properties of ferromagnetic elements can be tailored by making use of the shape anisotropy of finite-size systems. One material class of particular interest are ferromagnetic insulators, which can be used as spin filters for spintronics applications. Here we present a way to fabricate nanoscale ellipses of the ferromagnetic insulator europium sulfide (EuS) and investigate their magnetic properties. We observe a distinct influence of the magnetic field orientation on the shape of the magnetization curve. This could be used to separately control the individual magnetic elements of a magnetoresistive device using a ferromagnetic insulator. - Highlights: • We have grown highly textured thin films of the ferromagnetic insulator EuS. • The EuS films were patterned into nanoscale ellipses. • Magnetization shows clear indication of shape anisotropy. • Control of the magnetization reversal may be useful for spintronics