Properties of RF sputtered iron oxide thin films with CoCr and Nb as dopants

Sputtered pure iron oxide thin films exhibit preferred orientation with {111} planes parallel to the film surface. Both CoCr and Nb doping reduce this texture significantly. Both CoCr and Nb doped γ-Fe2O3films exhibit perpendicular anisotropy, which is attributed to stress-induced anisotropy. The γ-Fe2O3films deposited on Al-coated glass substrates show lower Msbut higher Hcvalues than those deposited on glass substrats. Also, greater difficulty was encountered for the oxidation of Fe3O4to γ-Fe2O3films when they were deposited on Al-coated glass substrates as compared to be deposited on bare glass substrates.