ISSN:
1089-7550
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
The magnetic, structural and microstructural properties of sputtered Fe thin films and Fe(backward-slash)Fe–O bilayers were studied as a function of the Fe layer thickness, the type of the Fe oxide and the substrate used. Two different ways to prepare the oxide layers were used; postdeposition oxidation and reactive sputtering. Postdeposition oxidation produced films with mixed Fe–oxides (FeO, Fe3O4, Fe2O3); however reactive sputtering led to bilayers with controlled stoichiometry, Fe(backward-slash)FeO, Fe(backward-slash)Fe3O4, and Fe(backward-slash)FE2O3, respectively. The coercivity of both the Fe films and fE(backward-slash)Fe–O bilayers, deposited on substrates with or without Cr buffer layer, was found to increase with decreasing Fe film thickness. The coercivity of the samples deposited on a Ag buffer layer was much lower and did not change substantially with the Fe film thickness. The presence of the Fe–oxide layer led to a large increase of coercivity. This is attributed to the higher anisotropy of the oxide and to exchange coupling of Fe–oxide with the softer Fe layer. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.361316
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