The effect of annealing on (001) FeTaN heteroepitaxial films

Author

Varga, L. ; Stephenson, A. ; Timkovich, S. ; Klemmer, T. ; Doyle, W.D. ; Kozaczek, K.J.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys. & Astron., Alabama Univ., Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

Volume

33

Issue

5

fYear

1997

fDate

9/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3616

Lastpage

3618

Abstract

The position of the nitrogen in (001) oriented FeTaN epitaxial thin films prepared on (001) MgO by reactive sputtering in an Ar-N atmosphere was determined by X-ray diffraction and its mobility investigated by annealing experiments. Lattice spacing measurements of the (002), (011), (211) and (112) crystallographic planes revealed that the bcc FeTa lattice with the inclusion of nitrogen underwent a tetragonal deformation with the c-axis out of the sample plane and with a maximum tetragonality in these samples of ~1.02. Upon annealing for two hours between 250°C and 650°C, the (002) lattice spacing and the crystalline anisotropy changed back to the values measured in nitrogen free films. No change in the magnetization was observed with annealing. The fact that the nitrogen occupies the interstitial sites in the z-direction perpendicular to the film plane may explain the relative insensitivity of magnetic properties measured in the (001) plane to the nitrogen concentration

Keywords

X-ray diffraction; annealing; crystal orientation; ferromagnetic materials; interstitials; iron alloys; magnetic anisotropy; magnetic epitaxial layers; magnetisation; sputtered coatings; tantalum alloys; (001) FeTaN heteroepitaxial films; (001) MgO; (001) oriented FeTaN epitaxial thin films; (002) lattice spacing; (002) plane; (011) plane; (112) crystallographic plane; (211) plane; 2 h; 250 to 650 degC; Ar-N; Ar-N atmosphere; Fe₉₅Ta₅N; FeTaN; MgO; X-ray diffraction; annealing; bcc FeTa lattice; c-axis; crystalline anisotropy; interstitial sites; lattice spacing; magnetic properties; magnetization; maximum tetragonality; mobility; nitrogen concentration; reactive sputtering; tetragonal deformation; Annealing; Atmosphere; Atmospheric measurements; Crystallization; Crystallography; Lattices; Magnetic films; Nitrogen; Sputtering; X-ray diffraction;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.619515

Filename

619515