Title :
Wide-Range Structural and Chemical Stability of the Magnetic Oxide NiFe2O4 Grown by O2-Assisted Pulsed Laser Deposition
Author :
Hoppe, Michael ; Gorgoi, Mihaela ; Schneider, Claus M. ; Muller, Mathias
Author_Institution :
Peter Grunberg Inst. (PGI-6), Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH, Julich, Germany
Abstract :
We present a study of the structural and chemical properties of the magnetic insulator NiFe2O4 on conductive Nb-doped SrTiO3 (001) substrates. Special regard is given to the dependence of the thin film properties on the O2:Ar ratio during pulsed laser deposition. Using stoichiometric NiFe2O4 target material and varying the O2 partial pressure from 0% to 100%, we find a nonzero oxygen threshold for heteroepitaxial growth and a stoichiometric Fe:Ni cation distribution. Moreover, our study clearly demonstrates that NiFe2O4 thin films grow with high quality over a wide range of oxygen partial pressures. These optimized NiFe2O4/SrTiO3 heterostructures are envisioned as efficient spin filter tunnel contacts for room temperature application.
Keywords :
epitaxial growth; iridium compounds; magnetic epitaxial layers; pulsed laser deposition; stoichiometry; NiFe2O4-SrTiO3; O2 partial pressure; O2-assisted pulsed laser deposition; SrTiO3:Nb; chemical properties; chemical stability; conductive Nb-doped (001) substrates; heteroepitaxial growth; magnetic insulator; magnetic oxide; optimized heterostructures; oxygen partial pressure; spin filter tunnel contacts; stoichiometric cation distribution; stoichiometric target materials; structural properties; thin film properties; Atmosphere; Chemicals; Epitaxial growth; Iron; Magnetic tunneling; Nickel; Substrates; Ferrite films; magnetic insulators; magnetic tunneling; spin electronics; spin filter tunneling;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TMAG.2014.2322378
