R&D: Crystal Structure, Morphology and Magnetic Properties of Nanocrystalline Zr6Fe23 Thin Films Grown on Si(001) Substrate

Applied Physics A has published an article written by R. Fersi, Laboratoire Matériaux Organisation et Propriétés, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, Tunis, 2092, Tunisia, and LMOP, Département de Physique, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire, El Manar Tunis, 2092, Tunisie, and A. P. Dalia, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 313 Splaiul Unirii Street, 020745, Bucharest, Romania.

Abstract: In this paper, crystal structure, morphology and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline Zr\(_{6}\)Fe\(_{23}\) thin films have been reported. Zr\(_{6}\)Fe\(_{23}\) films with different thickness X were grown by RF magnetron sputtering onto Si(001) substrate. The X thickness varies from 18 to 500 nm. From grazing X-ray diffraction patterns (GIXRD), the Zr\(_{6}\)Fe\(_{23}\)/Si(001) films have a single phase with cubic structure Th\(_{6}\)Mn\(_{23}\) type (Fm-3m space group) structure. We showed the presence of a strong preferred orientation (4 4 0) for X between 18 and 402 nm. However, for higher thicknesses X \(\ge \) 402 nm, multiple peaks are observed show the polycrystalline nature of the films and textured along (4 4 2), (5 3 3) and (6 6 0) orientations. The magnetic properties were affected by the thickness due to the morphology, roughness R\(_{rms}\) and intergrain exchange coupling (IEC). The correlations between these properties are investigated using the magnetic force microscopy (MFM) analysis. The 200 nm-thick Zr\(_{6}\)Fe\(_{23}\)/Si(001) film showed a high coercivity H\(_{c}\) = 3580 Oe, maximum energy product (BH)\(_{max}\) of 2.45 MGOe, magnetic anisotropy field H\(_a\) = 11230 Oe and Curie temperature T\(_C\) \(\simeq \) 821 K. The results found in this work could potentially pave the way for the future exploration and of magnetic recording development or spintronic devices made from nanocrystalline Zr\(_{6}\)Fe\(_{23}\) films.“