Structural and Magnetic Properties of Spinel Ferrite Epitaxial Films Pulsed-Laser-Deposited at Low Temperature

Abstract

Thin films of NiZn- and MnZn-ferrites have been epitaxially grown on sapphire substrates at low temperatures by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The structural and magnetic properties of the deposited films were investigated in detail. All films crystallized in the spinel phase even when deposited at room temperature and low oxygen pressures of 1 ×10 -4 Torr to 1 ×10 -6 Torr. X-ray diffraction analysis and atomic force microscopy showed that the spinel ferrite thin films grown at low temperatures below 200°C have high structural and morphological qualities, comparable to those of films grown at higher temperatures. The saturation magnetization of the room-temperature grown films was much lower than that of the bulk for NiZn-ferrite, while, for MnZn-ferrite, was 80% (270 emu/cm 3 ) of that of the bulk. These results make PLD a prime candidate technique for low-temperature epitaxial growth of ferrite thin films.