Low temperature pulsed laser deposition of textured γ′-Fe ₄N films on Si (1 0 0)

Low-temperature reactive pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was used to prepare iron nitride films. The textured γ′-Fe₄N films with (0 0 1)-orientation were deposited on Si (1 0 0) substrate with Fe buffer layer at a substrate temperature as low as 150 °C. The (0 0 1)-oriented γ′-Fe₄N film grew on the Fe buffer layer with a 3.5-nm thick amorphous interlayer, which eliminated the lattice mismatch stress between them. The films showed a columnar granular morphology with an average lateral grain size of approximately 110 nm. The films exhibited good soft magnetic properties with a high in-plane M_r/M_s value of 0.84. The magneto-optic Kerr effect results indicated an in-plane magnetic isotropy and confirmed the high remnant ratio of the γ′-Fe₄N films.