Evolutions of magnetic and structural properties of FeAlN thin films via N doping

Author

Liu, Yi-Kuang ; Harris, Vincent G. ; Kryder, Mark H.

Author_Institution

Data Storage Syst. Center, Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Volume

37

Issue

4

fYear

2001

fDate

7/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1779

Lastpage

1782

Abstract

The effects of N doping on the magnetic and structural properties of a series of 100 nm FeAlN films sputtered in the presence of N₂ partial pressures were investigated. Increasing N doping increased film resistivity but decreased M_s. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra of the short-range atomic order in the Fe(Al) lattices directly indicated that the N went into octahedral sites of bcc Fe and fcc Fe in α-Fe and γ´-Fe₄N phases, respectively, and triggered the order-disorder phase transition observed in X-ray θ-2θ diffraction spectra. Mild N doping decreased the grain size and reduced H_c. It also increased the local atomic disorder, which coincided with the maximal value of K_u and the in-plane anisotropic behaviors of as-deposited films

Keywords

EXAFS; X-ray diffraction; aluminium compounds; coercive force; electrical resistivity; ferromagnetic materials; grain size; iron compounds; magnetic anisotropy; magnetic thin films; magnetisation; order-disorder transformations; short-range order; soft magnetic materials; sputtered coatings; EXAFS spectra; FeAlN; FeAlN thin film; N doping; X-ray diffraction; anisotropy; coercive force; electrical resistivity; grain size; magnetic properties; order-disorder phase transition; saturation magnetization; short-range order; soft ferromagnetic material; sputter deposition; structural properties; Conductivity; Doping; Electromagnetic wave absorption; Iron; Lattices; Magnetic anisotropy; Magnetic films; Magnetic properties; Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; X-ray diffraction;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.950966

Filename

950966