Effects of stoichiometry on the magnetic and structural properties of perpendicular barium ferrite thin film media

Abstract

The effects of stoichiometry factor n on the magnetic and structural properties of perpendicular barium ferrite thin films with composition of BaO.n(Fe/sub 2/O/sub 3/) were systematically investigated. Within the range 2.2<n<6, the c-axis for barium ferrite thin films can be oriented perpendicularly by the use of a Pt underlayer and with optimized processing conditions. Perpendicular c-axis orientation becomes worse as n decreases from 6 to 2.2. The average grain size was greatly reduced from about 2000 /spl Aring/ to 300 /spl Aring/ with the decrease of n. The decrease of the grain size can be related to the existence of nonmagnetic phase BaFe/sub 2/O/sub 4/, which was observed by X-ray diffraction.