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In-Plane Magnetic Anisotropy In RF Sputtered Fe-N Thin Films

H. B. Nie, S. Y. Xu, C. K. Ong, Q. Zhan, D. X. Li, J. P. Wang

cond-mat.mtrl-sciarXiv:cond-mat/0308274

Abstract

We have fabricated Fe(N) thin films with varied N2 partial pressure and studied the microstructure, morphology, magnetic properties and resistivity by using X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, vibrating-sample magnetometer and angle-resolved M-H hysteresis Loop tracer and standard four-point probe method. In the presence of low N2 partial pressure, Fe(N) films showed a basic bcc a-Fe structure with a preferred (110) texture. A variation of in-plane magnetic anisotropy of the Fe(N) films was observed with the changing of N component. The evolution of in-plane anisotropy in the films was attributed to the directional order mechanism. Nitrogen atoms play an important role in refining the a-Fe grains and inducing uniaxial anisotropy.

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