Effect of laser energy on the morphology and electrical properties of Fe3O4 thin films deposited by PLD

• Main Authors: Abdulkareem, Khalid A., Kadhim, Suad M., Ali, Shams B.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carrier density; Cubes; Electrical properties; Field emission microscopy; Flat surfaces; Gas sensors; Hall effect; Iron oxides; Lasers; Microscopy; Pulsed laser deposition; Pulsed lasers; Silicon substrates; Surface roughness; Thin films
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0164996

The prepared nanostructured Fe3O4 thin films might be applicable in different fields such as gas sensing application. Iron oxide (Fe3O4) thin films were prepared on quartz and p-Si at 200 °C substrate temperature by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) with laser energy of (800 and 1000) mJ. These thin films were examined by different techniques. The X-ray diffraction showed a polycrystalline structure of cubic Fe3O4 phase. The crystallinity was enhanced the crystalline size increased when increasing the laser energy from 800 mJ to 1000 mJ. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was shown that the sample with the 800 mJ has a flat surface consisting of compact particles (276) nm, covered with cubes structures of dimensions ranging from 111 to 422 nm. The cubes disappeared, and the branching structures appeared, merging with the surface. The Hall effect indicates that increasing laser energy the carrier concentration increases, while the conductivity and Hall motion decrease. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) indicated that when the laser power increased the particle size increased, and the surface roughness decreased. The capacitance -voltage pointed that the Vbi was decreased from 0.55 to 0.45 V with increasing laser energy.