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Ferromagnetism and Morphology of Annealed Fe 2 O 3 /Co X O Y /ZnO Thin Films
Author(s) -
Zolotaryov Andriy,
Goetze Silvana,
Bachmann Julien,
Goerlitz Detlef,
Hesse Dietrich,
Nielsch Kornelius
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
advanced engineering materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1527-2648
pISSN - 1438-1656
DOI - 10.1002/adem.201000271
Subject(s) - materials science , spinel , annealing (glass) , ferromagnetism , thin film , atomic layer deposition , argon , atomic diffusion , analytical chemistry (journal) , crystallography , nanotechnology , metallurgy , condensed matter physics , chemistry , physics , atomic physics , chromatography
We have studied thermal solid‐state reactions in the Fe 2 O 3 /Co X O Y /ZnO thin film systems grown using the atomic layer deposition technique. The compound produced after annealing at 700 °C is found to be a complex mixture of three different spinel phases: ZnCo 2 O 4 , CoFe 2 O 4 , and ZnFe 2 O 4 . The magnetic properties of the compound strongly depend on the atomic ratio of Fe 3+ and Co 2+ atoms, which can be set by choosing the corresponding thicknesses of the Fe 2 O 3 and Co X O Y films. In addition, we also find a formation of 100 nm voids at the interface between Fe–Co–Zn–O compound and remaining ZnO film after 1h annealing at 700 °C in argon atmosphere. The formation of these voids shows indirectly the preferential outward diffusion of Zn 2+ ions from ZnO into the Fe 2 CoO 4 phase layer what we prove via our magnetic measurements.