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Magnetic Properties of Sputtered Fe-O and Co-O Thin Films
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Abstract
Fe-O and Co-O films were prepared by DC magnetron sputtering in a mixture of Ar and O2 gases. By varying the oxygen to argon ratio, oxide films with stoichiometry FeO, Fe3O4, α-Fe2O3, CoO and Co3O4 were produced. TEM studies showed that the Fe – oxide films were polycrystalline consisting of small almost spherical grains, about 10 nm in size. Co-O films had different microstructure with grain size and shape dependent on the amount of oxygen. X-ray diffraction studies showed that the grains in Fe-O films were randomly oriented in contrast to Co-O films in which a <111> texture was observed. Pure FeO and α-Fe2O3 films were found to be superparamagnetic at room temperature but strongly ferromagnetic at low temperatures in contrast to the antiferromagnetic nature of bulk samples. A very large shift in the hysteresis loop, about 3800 Oe, was observed in field cooled Co-CoO films indicating the presence of a large unidirectional exchange anisotropy.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 1996
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