  Thin films of magnetite (Fe3O4) are grown on single crystal GaAs (100)
substrate by pulsed laser deposition. X ray diffraction (XRD) result shows the
(111) preferred orientation of the Fe3O4 film and x-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy confirm the presence of single phase Fe3O4 in the film. The
electrical transport property of the film shows the characteristic Verwey
transition at 122 K and below 110 K, the transport follows variable range
hopping type conduction mechanism. The film shows room temperature
magnetization hysteresis loop suggesting the ferrimagnetic behavior of the film
with saturation magnetization value close to 470 emu/cc.
