Structural and magnetic properties of evaporated Fe thin films on Si(1 1 1), Si(1 0 0) and glass substrates

• Published in: Journal of magnetism and magnetic materials 2007-05, Vol.312 (1), p.194-199
• Main Authors: Ghebouli, B., Chérif, S.-M., Layadi, A., Helifa, B., Boudissa, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brillouin light scattering; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Exact sciences and technology; Fe thin films; Magnetic anisotropy; Magnetic properties and materials; Magnetic properties of monolayers and thin films; Magnetic properties of nanostructures; Magnetic properties of surface, thin films and multilayers; Physics; Structure and morphology; thickness; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Thin film structure and morphology; X-ray diffraction
• ISSN: 0304-8853
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmmm.2006.09.033

We present experimental results on the structural and magnetic properties of series of Fe thin films evaporated onto Si(1 1 1), Si(1 0 0) and glass substrates. The Fe thickness, t, ranges from 6 to110 nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been used to study the structure and surface morphology of these films. The magnetic properties were investigated by means of the Brillouin light scattering (BLS) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) techniques. The Fe films grow with (1 1 0) texture; as t increases, this (1 1 0) texture becomes weaker for Fe/Si, while for Fe/glass, the texture changes from (1 1 0) to (2 1 1). Grains are larger in Fe/Si than in Fe/glass. The effective magnetization, 4 πM eff, inferred from BLS was found to be lower than the 4 πM S bulk value. Stress induced anisotropy might be in part responsible for this difference. MFM images reveal stripe domain structure for the 110 nm thick Fe/Si(1 0 0) only.