Magnetic and Optical Properties of the TiO2-Co-TiO2 Composite Films Grown by Magnetron Sputtering

The TiO2-Co-TiO2 sandwich films were successfully grown on glass and silicon substrata making alternate use of radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering and direct current magnetron sputtering. The structures and properties of these films were identified with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra and X-ray photoemission spectra (XPS). It is shown that the sandwich film consists of two anatase TiO2 films with an embedded Co nano-film. The fact that, when the Co nano-film thickens, varied red shifts appear in optical absorption spectra may well be explained by the quantum confinement and tunnel effects. As for magnetic properties, the saturation magnetization, remnant magnetic induction and coercivity vary with the thickness of the Co nano-films. Moreover, the Co nano-film has a critical thickness of about 8.6 nm, which makes the coercivity of the composite film reach the maximum of about 1413 Oe.